Colombia heads to the polls today to reject the far-right politics of Iván Duque and Álvaro Uribe and assert that the average Colombian is much more progressive than the traditional politicians who represent them.
by Luciana Cadahia / Tamara Ospina Posse
Part 4 - Petro and Márqeuz
For too long, Colombian elites have been able to rely on a manufactured image: that of the Colombian people as violent, conservative, and uneducated, thus legitimizing the systematic use of violence against any attempt to “disturb the peace” — especially if it comes from political, social, and territorial movements.
That being the case, Colombia’s popular sectors and working class have fashioned their own response to that stereotype: a mobilized, collective political agent in the streets and, as confirmed by March legislative elections where the Left took a majority of seats, in the institutional halls of power.
That being the case, Colombia’s popular sectors and working class have fashioned their own response to that stereotype: a mobilized, collective political agent in the streets and, as confirmed by March legislative elections where the Left took a majority of seats, in the institutional halls of power.
This alliance between popular mobilization and political organization has given rise to the candidacies of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez and their Historic Pact alliance, which has revived the long-standing history of popular, left-wing struggle in Colombia. It also bears mentioning that the Colombian people have actively protected their candidates from assassination attempts, thus conjuring the ghost of past tragedies in which left-wing candidates were gunned down with impunity.
The candidacies of Petro and Márquez have given Colombia a historic opportunity to put an end to a regime of systemic violence while at the same time becoming a global leader in the transition from the fossil economy to a more environmentally sustainable economic model. Petro and Márquez also come from two of the regions most affected by the twin blights of armed conflict and racism — the Caribbean and Cauca regions, respectively. Their regional origin thus upsets the political centralism that has historically privileged elites in Bogotá and Medellín. Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez come from a background in popular resistance, human rights, and territorial defense, and both have been tireless advocates for an end to Colombia’s armed conflict.
Despite systematic fraud, the Historical Pact surprised all of Colombia in March by becoming the majority political force in the legislature. The international left will be holding their breath today for a repeat victory, in the hopes that, as Francia Máquez put it, left-wing politics in Colombia can move “from resistance into power, until dignity becomes an everyday habit.”
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