[ The Pacto Histórico: a one-of-a kind alliance. It was a unique
coalition, not a mere alliance among political parties, but also
including social movements from a broad range of the ideological
spectrum. And the "Nobodies" won. Heres how]
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THE NOBODIES TAKE OFFICE IN COLOMBIA: AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS  
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Alina Duarte
August 11, 2022
Council on Hemispheric Affairs
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_ The Pacto Histórico: a one-of-a kind alliance. It was a unique
coalition, not a mere alliance among political parties, but also
including social movements from a broad range of the ideological
spectrum. And the "Nobodies" won. Here's how _

photo: Gustavo Petro’s Facebook page,

 

_Fleas dream of buying themselves a dog, and the nobodies dream of
escaping poverty: that one magical day good luck will suddenly rain
down on them–will rain down in buckets. __But good luck doesn’t
rain down yesterday, today, tomorrow, or ever. Good luck doesn’t
even fall in a fine drizzle, no matter how hard the nobodies summon
it, even if their left hand is tickling, or if they begin the new day
with their right foot, or start the new year with a change of brooms._

_The nobodies: nobody’s children, owners of nothing. The nobodies:
the no ones, the nobodied, running like rabbits, dying through life,
screwed every which way._

_Who are not, although they are._
_Who don’t speak languages, but dialects._
_Who don’t have religions, but superstitions._
_Who don’t create art, but handicrafts._
_Who don’t have culture, but folklore._
_Who are not human beings, but human resources._
_Who do not have faces, but arms._
_Who do not have names, but numbers._
_Who do not appear in the history of the world, but in the police
blotter of the local paper._

_The nobodies, who are worth less than the bullet that kills them._

_The Nobodies_

BY EDUARDO GALEANO [1]

JUNE 19, ELECTORAL VICTORY

People are crying, embracing, yelling, as the streets fill with joy.
Horns honk and people dance in the middle of avenues. They can’t
believe that the news traveling by word of mouth, tweet to tweet, news
show to news show, is really true. As the minutes and hours pass, they
confirm that it is true: This June 19th they—the Nobodies—have
won.

“I am tingling from head to toes, overcome with emotion because I
know that this is an historic accomplishment for all of us to
remember. What joy! What happiness! Until dignity becomes
customary!” says Ana Yuli Gamboa with a big smile—an
Afro-Colombian woman from Cali who has come out to celebrate.

Like Ana Yuli, little by little thousands took to the streets and
plazas of the country to celebrate the victory of the _Pacto
Histórico_, a victory that tastes like their own.
 

Ana Yuli Gamboa. (Photo: Alina Duarte)
“After 214 years we finally have a government of the people—a
people’s government, a government of people with calloused hands, a
government of ordinary people, a government of _The Nobodies_ of
Colombia. Sisters and brothers, let us bring reconciliation to this
nation. Let’s go for peace in a decisive way, with love and joy;
let’s go for dignity. I am the first woman vice-president of
Colombia; I am your vice-president,” said Francia Márquez before
thousands in Bogotá after the victory of the _Pacto Histórico_ was
confirmed. Many more women and men saw her on screens, heard her on
the radio, and followed her words on social media in the rest of the
country and the rest of the hemisphere.

A few minutes later came the sentence that many had been waiting years
to hear, “I am Gustavo Petro and I am your president.” That was
when the Movistar Arena in Bogotá reverberated in response to the
next occupant of the _Palacio de Nariño_.

I was in Cali, salsa capital of the world, when I witnessed these
tears of joy and dancing. The band Niche’s anthem “Cali
Pachanguero” was tapped out in the horns announcing the victory. And
between tears, hundreds of Colombian men and women made these
victorious words their own: it is the dawning of a new era for the
country, the era of the _Pacto_.

THE _PACTO HISTÓRICO_: A ONE-OF-A KIND ALLIANCE

The _Pacto Histórico_ was officially born on February 11, 2021.
Political figures on the left and center-left announced this alliance
which would first seek to consolidate a position that could win a
legislative majority in Congress, and second, produce a candidate who
could win the presidency. The _Pacto Histórico_ succeeded.

What was unique about this coalition was the members it brought
together. It was not a mere alliance among political parties, but also
included social movements from a broad range of the ideological
spectrum.

_Colombia Humana_ (Humane Colombia), _Polo Democrático
Alternativo_ (Alternative Democratic Pole), Movimiento Alternativo
Indígena y Social (Alternative Indigenous and Social Movement),
Unión Patriótica-Partido Comunista (Patriotic Union-Communist
Party), Todos Somos Colombia (We Are All Colombia), and Congreso de
los Pueblos y Comunes (Congress of Peoples and Communes—a party
founded by former FARC combatants), are just some of the groups that
answered the call.

However, young people, women, peasants, trade unionists, Colombian men
and women from the historically excluded segments of society—the
periphery, the poorest neighborhoods, the working class—soon
organically showed up for this appointment with history.
The _Pacto_ was joined by The Nobodies, the people who didn’
hesitate to go out into the streets in April of 2021 when President
Iván Duque threatened to implement a tax reform package that would
benefit only the ruling class. This time thousands and thousands of
them took to the streets.

Nationally, more than 70 people who raised their voices did so at the
cost of their own lives, while hundreds refused to back down despite
the brutal repression of the police forces.

One of the main trenches of struggle in Cali was Puerto Resistencia, a
place where fearless youths came together, with hundreds of them
forming a “front line.” For months on end, they stood firm for a
new Colombia, even though some of their comrades were murdered before
their very eyes during this dark period.

Such was the case of “Wao,” a young man from Cali who after months
of marches, road blocks, repression and persecution, felt that it was
all worth it. On the night of June 19th, despite the possibility that
the police would arrest him for his activism, he did not hesitate one
second in going out to celebrate the victory together with hundreds of
other young people.

 

“Panda” and “Wao”, activists at Puerto Resistencia, Cali.
(Photo: Alina Duarte.)
“This victory by Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez is our victory,
because here in Puerto Resistencia we have bet absolutely everything
on this. We have shown leadership, inner city youth programs, building
this with the people … We are showing that yes, we can. Yes, we can
make a change for the good of our children’s future. This fills my
heart, I feel it here in my chest, I tell you sincerely.”

On the night of the victory, Gustavo Petro thanked those young people
and also asked for the release of those who are still
incarcerated—words which brought great joy to the resistance in
Cali. “To be honest with you, that was an act of bravery, from the
heart. They know and believe in us, that we represent change,” said
Wao with a lump in his throat.

We cannot forget that the social uprising that lasted almost a year at
different levels of intensity, occurred immediately prior to the
taking of power by the _Pacto Histórico_.

The repressive response by the police exacerbated the social
indignation for almost ten months. There were constant protests, which
were met with constant repression. But what was even more important
was the massive level of organization and consciousness raising among
the Colombian people.
 

José Alberto Tejada and the young people of Puerto Resistencia in
Cali. (Photo: Alina Duarte)
José Alberto Tejada, a journalist who covered the social uprising in
Cali and now serves as a member of Congress for the _Pacto
Histórico_, points out that the role played by Gustavo Petro in
consolidating a broad front that brought together all sectors and all
possible demands was fundamental.

AN OPEN INVITATION TO ALL SECTORS

“What [Petro] did was to tell _Pacto Histórico_, ‘the government
cannot only be the _Pacto Histórico_. If we want to win office and
be successful, we must create a broad front which will attract
militants and leaders, leaders of other political forces that are not
on the left, that are liberals, conservatives, right, center, radical
right wingers, who for some reason decide to change how they vote. We
must take them in.’ I fully agree with Petro’s position. I think
it makes the most sense, politically speaking.”

During the campaign, Petro promoted the formation of a government of
unity. He did not promise a communist or a socialist government, nor
did he promise to end private property or that only the left would be
included. He even promised to develop capitalism in Colombia, “not
because we love it, but because first of all we have to move beyond
pre-modernity in Colombia—feudalism, the new slavery.” This
message was not necessarily intended for his voters, but rather his
opponents who already hold national economic and political power.

 

José Alberto Tejada. (Photo: Alina Duarte)
The proposal to his team, _Pacto Histórico_, was for national
reconciliation and unity.

This is why Tejada believes that Petro’s administration “cannot be
read to be a revolutionary government or one marking a major rupture.
It is a government of transition and concerted action. Concerted
action means negotiation and when you negotiate, you have to sit down
with the leaders of all the different social, political, and economic
forces to be able to govern.”

Holding a dialogue with the right and the far-right means that Gustavo
Petro has had to talk not only to the outgoing president, Iván Duque,
and his defeated opponent, Rodolfo Hernández, but also to former
President Álvaro Uribe, one of the men facing the most judicial
investigations in Colombia. There are at least 29 cases against him
before the Supreme Court, with charges including alleged ties to
murders, electoral fraud, and military espionage.
 

Former President Álvaro Uribe with Gustavo Petro. (Photo: Gustavo
Petro on Twitter.)
At the end of their meeting, Uribe said that Gustavo Petro “insisted
that he wants total peace. No one opposes peace, that precious
commodity. I also spoke to him about not only the protection of the
armed forces and its members, from a different system, but about
public problems that require the force of authority, not to repress
protesters, but to avoid violence.”

This was the most controversial meeting of the transition period. It
sheds doubt about how much maneuvering room Petro might have in a
country in which the oligarchy, drug traffickers, and Uribe’s
influence have all grown very deep roots.

Still, not everyone agrees that alliances with even the far-right will
result in guaranteed governability, even though the _Pacto
Histórico_ holds 63 of the 108 seats in the Senate, and 114 of the
186 seats in the House.

According to Héctor Fernández, an activist in _Pacto
Histórico_ and member of _Colectivo por la Paz en
Colombia_ (Collective for Peace in Colombia), based in Mexico,
“while Petro has enough votes to pass the reforms he needs to
implement his government platform, it is obvious that THIS NATIONAL
ALLIANCE IS A FRAGILE ONE. It is an alliance that must be tended to in
order to maintain unity and allow Petro to govern over the next four
years.”

This scenario is not surprising. As we have seen over the past two
decades in Latin America and the Caribbean where so-called progressive
governments have been in office, Gustavo Petro will also have to
cultivate and establish—or not—the limits required to govern once
class tensions with the oligarchy and right-wing voters become
apparent, beyond any alleged governance pact. What is unique about the
Colombian case is that success in steering the national ship will not
only require Petro to be shrewd, but to do so in the country with
perhaps the most conservative right-wing in the hemisphere, who have
blurred the lines between themselves and organized crime, drug
trafficking, and United States imperialism.

Given these peculiar waters, Gustavo Petro’s track record and
political activism are key.

GUSTAVO PETRO’S PATH

_ “The Colombian government had managed to sell to the world the
theory that Colombia was a democracy. It was actually a dictatorship,
just like that of Pinochet in Chile and Videla in Argentina. We in the
M-19 were fighting precisely against that.”_

_GUSTAVO PETRO, “UNA VIDA, MUCHAS VIDAS”_

Born in Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba, and holding Italian citizenship
thanks to his great-grandfather, Gustavo Petro has a long history of
militant activism and public service.
 

Gustavo Petro protecting himself from death threats during the 2022
presidential campaign. (Photo: Gustavo Petro’s Facebook page)
Although it has been used against him, it is true that Gustavo Petro
joined the guerrillas at age 18 while an economics student. He joined
the _Movimiento 19 de abril_, also known as M-19, where he adopted
the pseudonym Aureliano, inspired by a Gabriel García Márquez
character. He himself has narrated the nuances of his militancy.

When he joined M-19, Colombia was under a state of siege after an
electoral fraud that handed victory to Misael Pastrana. In his book,
“Una vida, muchas vidas,” Petro narrates the moment he made the
decision that would change his life:

_“I was 18_ _ years old at the time. It was 1978 and I had been in
university for two years. The idea of joining M-19 scared me. It was
not a trivial matter. It meant joining an armed force: I knew that the
message of that movement penetrated the souls of the Colombian people
like a cannon. The magazine _Cromos_ had conducted a survey and 80%
of the population sympathized with M-19. We members of the JG3 had
already broken with the student left of Bogotá. We were very
independent. Our central debate was whether the path to revolution in
Colombia was through armed struggle. We were wondering whether we
should join the armed organizations… It all happened very fast. We
went from the cafeteria circles to abstract discussion, to be seduced
not only by the idea that we should organize ourselves with weapons,
but that the organization we should belong to was the M-19…
Rationally speaking, M-19’s proposal was very logical and popular:
we had to redeem the history of our homeland, the soul of the people.
For us it was easy to understand that demand because we lived in that
world of the people. The hard part was making the decision to take up
arms. We did not know all that would come afterwards; we were only 18
years old. But we did intuit that it was a life-or-death decision.”_

For Petro, getting close to the M-19 meant he had to understand and
break down its theoretical and practical lines. But he spared no
details in recounting the surprise and enchantment he found in the
guerrilla movement’s proposal as set forth in its Fifth Conference
documents:

_“I loved the document. The M-19 articulated the socialist proposals
of the traditional left at the time, but it went far beyond that to
propose something that still seems obvious but isn’t really: a real
democracy for Colombia. That debate between socialism and democracy
ran throughout the 20th century. With the appearance of the Soviet
world, the idea of democracy was undermined, even ignoring those who
had created such theories. The elimination of individual liberty
marked the end of the concept of democracy, which was something
cherished by the workers’ struggles of the world. And in that
debate, a bit removed from the centers of the world, in a country
called Colombia, M-19 was opting for democracy. Because that was
always the objective: it was a democratic proposal, and that is how it
began to be called the search for an alternative for Colombia,” (p.
47)._

As a member of the M-19, Gustavo Petro was arrested and tortured in
1985. Two years later, in 1987, he was released. It was not until
January of 1989 that the M-19 entered a 14-month long peace process,
finally reaching a peace agreement in March of 1990 and becoming the
first guerrilla group to lay down its arms in Colombia and achieve
political participation through elections. Gustavo Petro participated
in that process.

Upon leaving the guerrillas, Petro co-founded the political party
Alianza Democrática M-19, which played a key role in the National
Constituent Assembly of 1991, a process which resulted in a new
constitution for the South American country.

His active political participation led him to the House of
Representatives in 1991. Later, under death threats, he left the
country and was appointed diplomatic attaché in Brussels, Belgium by
the Ernesto Samper administration. He resigned the post in 1996.

On his return to Colombia in 1997, Petro ran unsuccessfully for mayor
of Bogotá; one year later he returned to the House of Representatives
and was re-elected in 2002. However, faced with another threat to his
life, he went into exile in the U.S. capital for three months. The
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued precautionary
measures on his behalf, forcing the Colombian State to provide him
with protection.

Petro was catapulted onto the national scene when he served as mayor
of Bogotá, but that position was not enough to implement his ideas of
national transformation. Twice he ran for President of the Republic of
Colombia and lost. But three was the charm when on March 13, 2022 he
won the nomination of the _Pacto Histórico_ by taking 80.5% in the
primary vote. In second place was Francia Márquez with 14.05% of the
vote.

Although they were opponents in the primary, ten days later the
Petro/Márquez presidential ticket was born.

 

Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez. (Photo: Gustavo Petro’s Facebook
page)
Gustavo Petro is an old sea dog. The attempt to cut short his
political career through a ploy to remove him as mayor of Bogotá
failed. The death threats and persecution that drove him into exile or
the underground give him a very unique profile in this hemisphere. He
is an activist government official and an activist who is a government
official. At the age of 62 he is now at the helm of one of the
hemisphere’s biggest countries in terms of paramilitary activity,
drug trafficking, and domination by U.S. imperialism.

This is no secret. In the streets of Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín,
people recognize an intelligent man with a long political track
record, and also a man whose ego is hard to satisfy. But it is clear
that his flaws have not slowed him down. He is advancing at a steady
pace and the Casa de Nariño awaits him to represent not only his
supporters, but also his detractors.

The night of the victory, Gustavo Petro, wearing a blue jacket with
brown patches on the elbows,  embraced Francia Márquez. An embrace
that announced that on the path ahead, He will be accompanied by more
than his running mate. Francia Márquez has become an indispensable
comrade in struggle not only for Petro, but for The Nobodies of
Colombia.

FRANCIA MÁRQUEZ, THE STRUGGLE OF THE NOBODIES

I asked people what Francia Márquez means to them.

“For me, Francia Márquez means my color, my skin. She means to
work, to struggle for our rights; humility, work, getting ahead,
better work opportunities, a better quality of life. For me, she means
change since we are coming out of 20 years of a government that has
been manipulating us and exploiting the people,” responded Mabel
Dayana, a young university student in Cali whose smile reveals the
hope deposited at the polls.

There are many men and women who see themselves in Francia Márquez, a
black woman born in El Cauca, active member of the feminist movement,
and defender of territories. Even though Francia did not imagine
herself as _the candidate_, advocating for a collective project
rather than an elected position, this propelled her onto the platform.

Francia Elena Márquez Mina is the daughter of miners and farmers.
Before she showed up for the first vice-presidential debate, she
already had a long track record as a militant and member of social
movements.

 

Mabel Dayana, Cali, Colombia. (Photo: Alina Duarte.)
As a teenager, Francia Elena provided for her two children by working
in artisanal gold mining and as a domestic worker in the city of Cali.
Her struggle to defend territories goes back to her native Suárez,
where she was a representative of the Community Council in the village
of La Toma. There she was a firm opponent of the illegal and
destructive mining that resulted in the forced displacement of her
community and death threats against her, which failed to stop her.

Many women and men in Colombia remember her as part of the “March of
the Turbans,” a long and combative mobilization in 2017 in which
70,000 Afro-Colombian women marched from the municipality of Suárez
to Bogotá to demand collective titles to their ancestral land, and
the right to a life with dignity.

She insists on defending the land and calls it “the big home” or
“the greater womb.” This not only led her to receive the Colombian
National Prize for the Defense of Human Rights in 2015, but also
caught the attention of international activists. In 2018 she was
awarded the Goldman Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for the
environment, and in 2019 she was awarded the Joan Alsina Prize in
Spain.

Despite this national and international attention, and her imminent
vice-presidency, Francia Márquez is still attentive to those who
communicate with her. She smiles, says hello, and hugs.

I was among a group of journalists visiting Colombia on a mission with
Global Exchange, to whom she gifted 24 minutes of her time. Francia
talked about _being_ from the Colombian people who have experienced
and confronted racism, exclusion, and the imposition of an economic
model sold to them as “development.” Such “development,”
Márquez said, has taken the country down a virtually impossible path
which has led to Colombians killing each other and a war that persists
to the present day.

“_I represent the voices of the grandmothers who wanted a change for
this country; many died waiting for it. Others now say: ‘I thought I
would die and not live to see the change.’ We are engaged in a
struggle for dignity and justice for our people, of men and women who
have historically fought for equality, for peace, for social justice,
for human dignity, for the struggle to care for our land as a space
for life, the big home, the greater womb_.”

 

Francia Márquez before the first round of voting. (Photo: Alina
Duarte)
Francia provokes many reactions, and even emotions in some latitudes.

In Medellín, the land of Álvaro Uribe and Pablo Escobar, there is
little evidence of support for Petro and Francia. It is almost
impossible to find any of their campaign materials. That makes it even
more striking that a large yellow house in the El Prado neighborhood
has large letters spelling out PETRO on top of it, in capital letters.

It is the headquarters of _Comunes_, the party created by former
combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and
the venue for our meeting with Carlos Orlas, a journalist and member
of that party.

Carlos is able to describe what Colombia is going through with all the
proper grammar and punctuation and agility of a disciplined journalist
who is also a peace activist. The deaths, disappearances, the false
positives and the persecution of former combatant men and women
warrant serious attention. But when he is asked what Francia Márquez
means to him, the solemn mood is broken and his face cannot hide the
hope that the future vice-president inspires in him.
 

Carlos Orlas, journalist and member of the Comunes party in Medellín.
(Photo: Alina Duarte)
_“Francia represents the land, the land that has suffered so
much __but has still blossomed; the land that resists. It is not that
she talks about a life project around defending life, the rivers, the
mountains, and that she shows this with her actions. It is not just a
policy formulated around saying this. Rather this is what she has
done, and that is very compelling. Francia is the people. She is an
elder woman and we must value this because that is really new here. We
have always been governed by the elites from Bogotá, with some
interludes for the elites of Antioquia. But a woman who comes from
such strong roots in El Cauca—where Colombia’s mightiest rivers
spring in the Colombian Massif—is key. That woman is pure love.”_

Not only is Francia synonymous with love among her supporters, so is
her slogan “_vivir sabroso_” (living the good life). This simple
phrase shook up the Colombian elites at the same time that it spurred
empathy and unity among those historically excluded.

“_For our people, Vivir Sabroso means living in community, living
in a collective construction of seeing ourselves as an extended
family. It means living with nature and acknowledging that we are part
of it and live in harmony with it if we as a people establish rules
for our relationship with nature. Vivir Sabroso means the end of war
in this country. It means to live without fear, that we women can go
down to the corner without fear of being raped or killed. That young
people will not have their eyes shot out because they are demanding
education in this country._

_To live without fear is to live with rights, to live in peace, to
live with joy; to be able to express oneself through art, culture, and
sports. It is to be able to enjoy the rich biodiversity we have in
this country. That is what Vivir Sabroso means. And we have enjoyed
this in the Pacific coast region of Colombia when we play the marimba,
when we go and drink “bichi” and begin to talk about
ourselves_.”

 

The “nobodies” participating in the presidential campaign to
support Petro and Márquez. (Photo: Alina Duarte.)
Francia has made it clear. Hers is a collective struggle and is
summarized by her phrase, “I am because we are.” It is also the
constant cry of a Black woman fighting with other women for a world of
equals.

Clearly, in the coming years it will not suffice to want to _vivir
sabroso_, or simply insist that “I am because we are.” The battle
lines are drawn. Márquez will go from being opposition to serving in
government, with the great challenge this implies. The challenge is to
take the struggle that she has been waging for at least two decades, a
collective struggle, beyond the polls and beyond narratives.

“COLOMBIA WILL TURN INTO VENEZUELA”: THE BATTLE OVER NARRATIVES

_“Our approach was to defend peace, but Uribe’s people came back
into power. How did that happen? Through fear, with rhetoric about
Venezuela. The only way they could achieve that popular majority was
based on a lie and not a proposal. During Uribe’s first and second
terms, the mantra was destruction of the FARC, which somehow appealed
to a society that felt threatened. But in 2018 they proposed nothing.
They simply got people to think that if I won, Colombia would turn
into Venezuela. That was all.”_

_GUSTAVO PETRO, _UNA VIDA MUCHAS VIDAS_._

The specter of “turning into Venezuela,” present in political
debates over the past two decades throughout Latin America and the
Caribbean, had to be present in Colombia, specifically regarding
candidate Gustavo Petro.

Media claims that Petro was and is synonymous with Venezuela did not
start in 2022. The media battle over “Venezuelanization”—as
Petro himself said in his book _Una vida muchas vidas_—started
years earlier. He specifically pinpoints the 2018 presidential
campaign, after the media had worn out, but did not desist from, other
narratives such as his alleged relationship with the FARC.

One of the main people in charge of attacking the incoming president
was former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, one of the most
recalcitrant opponents of Gustavo Petro.

Months prior to the election, with several media outlets present,
Uribe said that with Gustavo Petro “_COLOMBIA COULD HAVE THE WORST
NEO-COMMUNISM IN THE REGION_ because Mr. Petro is much smarter than
[Hugo] Chávez, Mr. Petro is much smarter than [Pedro] Castillo, than
President [Alberto] Fernández of Argentina, and Mr. Petro is much
smarter than Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua. That is why I have stated
very thoughtfully that Chávez was not the teacher; it was Petro who
taught Chávez. Colombia could have the most dangerous communism in
the region because it has the smartest neo-communist leader, who is
Mr. Petro.”

However, despite the barrage of corporate media reports asserting that
the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Gustavo Petro had close
ties, the only record of an encounter between the two occurred in
1994.
 

Gustavo Petro and Hugo Chávez, 1994. (Photo: social media)
After his incarceration following a failed coup attempt in 1992, Hugo
Chávez was released in 1994 and attended an event on Bolivarian
thought at the Simón Rodríguez Cultural Foundation in Bogotá.

But such evidence is not enough to discredit the campaign about the
“Venezuelanization” that Gustavo Petro would purportedly usher in.

Days before the runoff election, the cover of _Semana_, one of
Colombia’s largest circulating magazines, showed the faces of the
now defeated Rodolfo Hernández and Gustavo Petro, with a headline
that took up 1/3 of the space: “Former Guerilla or Engineer?”

That was not all. Days before the first round of voting, opinion
columns in that magazine alleged the same thing. One of them, signed
by _Semana_ columnist Maria Andrea Nieto ran the headline,
“Colombia is not Venezuela!” It sought to convince readers that
despite Colombia’s systematic violence which in 2022 alone, as of
May 29, had seen 108 human rights defenders assassinated, 53 massacres
and 28 assassinations of signers of the failed peace accords, Colombia
was more democratic than Venezuela, no buts about it.

However, Venezuela is still one of the cards played in such
“arguments.”’

Before the election was even held, in another issue of the same
publication, Salud Hernández Mora published a piece under the
headline, “Will Petro Accept another Defeat?” According to this
author, the _Pacto Histórico_ is the only one capable of “setting
the streets on fire and stomping on democracy.”

 

Opinion column in Semana magazine before the first round of voting in
May of 2022.
Even with most of the headlines in the corporate media against it,
the _Pacto Histórico_ showed that a break with the past is
possible. In a country with just over 39 million registered voters,
11,291,986 voted for the _Pacto Histórico_.

The “Venezuelanization” narrative, scandalous magazine covers, and
scurrilous headlines were all unable to stem the tide of popular
indignation.

COLOMBIA IS, AND WILL AGAIN BE, PART OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN.

_“The United States seems destined by providence_
_to plague the Americas with suffering in the name of freedom.”_

_SIMÓN BOLÍVAR_

It is not surprising and is even understandable that Gustavo Petro and
Francia Márquez have refrained from showing any sympathy toward the
so-called progressive governments of Latin America and the Caribbean,
given the extensive, over-the-top media campaign being waged against
them by the right and far-right of not only Colombia, but the world.
However, and contrary to the expectations of the regional left itself,
a few weeks have sufficed to see which way the winds are blowing in
Colombia’s foreign policy.

If we start from the premise that Colombia’s relationship of
economic, political, and military dependence on the United States will
far from end during the _Pacto Histórico’s_ term, we understand
why one of the first foreign delegations to establish a dialogue with
the incoming government was the Biden administration.
 

Jonathan Finer, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor, meeting with
Petro. (Petro’s Facebook page.)
Colombia, the main U.S. military ally in the region, hosts seven U.S.
military bases in its territory. And economically, it is undeniable
that Colombia’s leading trade partner is the United States.

Jonathan Finer, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor, headed the
delegation that met with the president-elect to ensure that they
covered “the full range of issues in the bilateral relationship …
including combating climate change, economic development, migration,
security, counter narcotics, and many, many other issues. We hope to
work closely with the president-elect and his team, including the
vice-president elect.”

Petro described the meeting in positive terms as “interest in
building around common work, AMONG EQUAL PARTNERS, trying to lay the
groundwork that allows us to more effectively resolve issues,
circumstances, and situations that weigh on the Americas.”

THE NEW GOVERNMENT’S RELATIONSHIP WITH VENEZUELA

While, for the time being, joint statements with the U.S. government
do not mark a 180-degree turn, there are some actions which
specifically have marked a change in the government-elect’s foreign
policy: its relationship with VENEZUELA.

After two decades of open hostility towards Colombia’s neighbor, a
new stage seems to be opening in bilateral relations. The incoming
administration announced its willingness to re-establish relations
between the two countries, exchange ambassadors, and thereby reopen
the borders which were closed as part of the regional siege against
the government of Nicolás Maduro.

 

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faria with Colombia’s
Foreign-Minister designate, Álvaro Leyva, July 28 on the
Colombia-Venezuela border in Táchira. (Photo: Carlos Faria on
Twitter.)
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faria met this past July 28th with
the Foreign Minister proposed by the government-elect of Colombia,
Álvaro Leyva. Faria expressed “a willingness to gradually move
toward normalization of relations between our two countries, resuming
our historical ties of friendship, cooperation, and
complementarity.”

Venezuela may be the most significant change in Colombia’s new
foreign policy, but it is not the only one.

As a sort of foreign minister of the Colombian left, Francia Márquez
has sought to establish ties with governments and leaders of the Latin
American left and with social movements and organizations in the
region.

In a tour of South America, Márquez outlined the ideological
sympathies of the incoming administration.

Her first stop was Brazil. To the great joy of both, leader Francia
did not hold back from yelling “Viva Lula” in a moment which could
only be interpreted as support for the campaign of the former
Brazilian president in the upcoming October 2 vote. All indications
are that Lula will be returned to office.
 

Lula and Francia Márquez this past July 26th. (Photo: Francia
Márquez on Twitter)
Francia also took advantage of her stop in Río de Janeiro to
establish ties with the _Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem
Terra_ (Landless Workers Movement-MST), with activists, and with the
Afro-Brazilian community—specifically with Black women running for
the legislature in that South American country.

Further south, she was received by former Argentinian president and
current Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirschner, as well as
the current President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández. Francia
Márquez did not hesitate to approach the local social movements in an
encounter that gave a glimpse of some of the priorities on her agenda,
such as the legalization of drugs.

Before a packed auditorium that also included Nobel Prize winner
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Nora Cortiñas, a Mother of the Plaza de
Mayo, Márquez stated:

_“May Colombia lead a debate in the region about a path towards
legalization of drugs. I understand that the approach of criminalizing
them has had negative impacts, especially on the rights of
impoverished and racialized populations, women, young people, and
ethnic peoples. These are the ones who have been disproportionately
impacted by such policies.”_

After Argentina, Márquez headed to Chile, where she was received by
President Gabriel Boric. The support offered by the Chilean president
was noteworthy. The vice-president-elect welcomed the fact that Boric
“has not only expressed his willingness to accompany us in the task
of attaining peace, but has offered his home, Chile, to be a venue for
peace talks between the Colombian State and the National Liberation
Army (ELN).”

And if Márquez’ South American tour sought to strengthen ties with
progressive movements, governments, and prominent figures, Bolivia
could not be left out.

During his meeting with Francia, President Luis Arce Catacora said
that “southern winds are blowing more strongly and strengthening
the _Patria Grande_ (Great Homeland).” And former President Evo
Morales said that they shared “experiences from the long struggle
for the rights of the people most impoverished and excluded by
neoliberal policies.”

[Screenshots of tweets by Francia Márquez: “I was happy to meet
with @evoespueblo, teacher of life. From him we learned about the
dignity of our people, to stand firm despite adversity. Today the
struggle of the Bolivian and Colombian people is united to acknowledge
that in our differences is a united and sovereign Latin America,”
and by Evo Morales: “The beautiful words of Francia Márquez M pay
homage to the Bolivian people. We are pleased because now, together
with brother @gustavopetro, Colombia is advancing towards unity in
diversity, redeeming the plurinationality of Latin America.”]

Bolivia was no exception in terms of Francia’s outreach to social
movements. Surrounded by women, workers, peasants, indigenous people,
community feminism activists, Márquez was welcomed with open arms.

And although Mexico was not on Francia Márquez’ Latin American
tour, the support of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is
undeniable. Just a few hours after the electoral victory he
congratulated the government-elect and took a lot of time during his
morning press conference on June 20th to say that he had spoken to
Gustavo Petro on the phone and that his victory was historic.

A less visible meeting that also happened was a zoom call between the
vice-president-elect and the Head of Government of Mexico City,
Claudia Sheinbaum, on July 7th. Sheinbaum described Márquez as a
“symbol of struggle, inclusion, love, and hope for all of Latin
America, especially women.”

In the few short weeks of the transition period while an
administration was put together, the foreign policy priorities of the
new Colombian government have become crystal clear. Petro and Márquez
will seek to be part of the Latin America that has often been denied
to Colombia because of U.S. influence.

The _Pacto Histórico_ will also be among the peoples of the region.

THE COIN TOSS

The Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez administration faces the coming
challenge of a country profoundly marked by the unraveling of the
social fabric, and by a political, ideological, and electoral right
wing that will have a hard time separating itself from the
paramilitaries, drug traffickers, and the interests of U.S.
imperialism.

The _Pacto Histórico_ government will have an historic duty to open
new paths in a country that is still seeking peace, but has not yet
found it.

Between the date when the Cartagena de Indias Peace Accords were
signed, September 26, 2016, and July 29, 2022, 1,335 leaders and human
rights defenders were murdered. 319 massacres were committed and at
least 334 signers of the peace accords were assassinated, while
unofficial estimates speak of more than 600.

That is where the light of the _Pacto Histórico_—THE
NOBODIES—shines.

They have alliances, conscience, and bravery on their side. They have
allied governments that have spared no efforts in establishing
networks to help bring Colombia and the Patria Grande out of the long,
dark night of neoliberalism.

The Nobodies want to be in government and they will be. But they want
and can be more than that.
 

The author of this analysis, Alina Duarte, with Francia Márquez.
 

Mural on the streets of Cali. (Photo: Alina Duarte)

_[ALINA DUARTE IS A JOURNALIST AND SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE
COUNCIL ON HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS, COHA.]_

_This analysis was edited by COHA Director, Patricio Zamorano._

_This article was translated from the original Spanish by Jill
Clark-Gollub, COHA Assistant Editor/Translator._

[1] Translated by Cedric Belfrage with some edits by COHA.
 

* Colombia
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* Pacto Histórico
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* Francia Marquez
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* Latin America
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* Central America
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