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Colombian elections

The street was a party: Petro’s inauguration

Thousands of people around Plaza Bolivar in Bogota and in many parts of the country celebrated the historic milestone of Gustavo Petro’s inauguration as president of Colombia. By Fátima Martínez Petro and Francia Márquez, the vice-president, are the most visible…

Colombia, Once a Pro-U.S. Conservative Bastion, Turns Left

Voters in Colombia have picked a powerful new duo, Gustavo Petro as president and Francia Márquez as vice president, to take the nation in a new direction, tackling economic and environmental injustice. By Sonali Kolhatkar For the first time ever,…

Historic victory: Gustavo Petro becomes Colombia’s first left-wing president

In Colombia, Gustavo Petro won the presidential election. The ex-guerrilla fighter is the country’s first left-wing president. He thus continues the left’s winning streak in Latin America. Petro wants to change Colombia profoundly. The country is to move away from…

Progressivism triumphs in Colombia and a people that is beginning to leave 200 years of loneliness behind it

The presidential ballot in Colombia, with almost 100 percent of the polling stations counted according to the National Electoral Council, ended on Sunday 19 June with the victory of the progressive candidate Gustavo Petro for the Historical Pact, who received…

Disruption, fraud and harassment on election day

During the course of election day, there have been some incidents that have clouded Colombians’ right to vote. The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) indicated this Sunday that 32 irregularities have been registered in which the electoral constraint has the highest…

Why Are Colombian Election Candidates Auditioning in Washington?

Staging a vice-presidential candidates debate in the runup to Colombia’s May 29th national elections was entirely appropriate.  Nevertheless, the location of the event in Washington and its promotion by US-state functionaries requires some explanation. Because of its venue and sponsors,…

What does the (s)election of Ivan Duque in Colombia mean for Latin America and the Caribbean?

The historical perspective Exactly one hundred years ago, Marco Fidel Suarez took over the presidency of Colombia and coined the foreign policy guidelines called Respice Polum (“Let’s look at the pole” or “towards the North”) or the Suarez Doctrine. Since…