Gustavo Petro speaks at an event after the 2022 Congressional elections in Colombia, on March 13, 2022. (Photo by: Sebastian Barros/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Colombia’s political history has long been marked by virulent and often violent conflict between entrenched elites and a series of insurgent movements seeking to challenge their dominance. There has been a strong racial aspect to this and right-wing governments have been consistently backed by US imperialism.
In February 2021, the Pacto Histórico was launched to challenge the deep structural inequalities that shape life in the country. It was a coalition of progressive forces, including leftist parties, social movements, grassroots organisations and progressive intellectuals.
In June the following year, the Pacto Histórico achieved a historic victory marking the first time in Colombia’s history that the left successfully ascended to national leadership. Gustavo Petro became president and Francia Márquez vice-president. It was a moment of profound political change in such a deeply unequal and violent country.
Like Durban, Colombia is an incredibly dangerous place for grassroots activists to challenge political gangsterism. In the past 10 years more than 1 500 activists have been assassinated, mostly poor people of African and indigenous descent. Under these exceptionally difficult circumstances Petro and Márquez, leading the Pacto Histórico coalition, achieved a historic victory by constructing and mobilising a broad social base, including the urban poor, Indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, and organised labour.
Petro’s political career began as a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, which later transitioned into a political party. During his time with M-19, Petro was imprisoned for two years. Like Álvaro García Linera, the former vice-president of Bolivia, and so many other radicals, Petro used the time in prison to immerse himself in Marxist and liberation theology texts, including work by the Italian communist, Antonio Gramsci, and José Carlos Mariátegui, a Peruvian Marxist, who developed an analysis of the relation between Indigenous struggles and socialism.
Over time, Petro shifted from armed militancy to electoral politics, becoming a senator and later the mayor of Bogotá. As mayor, Petro championed initiatives to address inequality, including expanding access to education through free uniforms and meals for low-income students, improving healthcare in poor neighbourhoods and promoting public transportation and cycling infrastructure. He also implemented a number of environmental reforms.
Before her rise to political prominence, Márquez, the first Afro-Colombian person to hold high office in Colombia, worked as a domestic worker. She later became an important community leader and environmental activist surviving a number of assassination attempts.
Race is central in Colombia’s political and social dynamics and Márquez’s election is a groundbreaking moment in a country where systemic racism remains deeply entrenched.
Her leadership has brought visibility to issues of racial and environmental justice. Her activism highlights the intersection of race, class and environmental exploitation, particularly in regions where Afro-Colombian and Indigenous people face the double burden of poverty and ecological degradation.
The new government ‘s programme focuses on addressing structural inequalities through progressive taxation, land reform and investments in education, healthcare and renewable energy. Petro has pledged to move Colombia away from its dependence on fossil fuels and to address the environmental crisis through sustainable development policies. Márquez has been a strong advocate for prioritising the voices of marginalised people, including women and sexual minorities, in this transition.
In October 2024, the new government commenced the largest land distribution in the country’s history, transferring 50,000 hectares to rural workers across various regions. This initiative is part of a broader goal to redistribute 1.5 million hectares during Petro’s term.
Petro’s government has expanded social welfare programmes to include direct cash transfers aimed at alleviating extreme poverty and reducing inequality. These initiatives prioritise rural communities, single mothers and displaced people, focusing on uplifting those most affected by conflict and economic neglect. Petro has expressed aspirations to transition towards a universal basic income model, ensuring a guaranteed minimum income for all Colombians.
Petro has also pursued healthcare reforms to make services universally accessible and free at the point of use, reducing the reliance on private providers. His administration has focused on expanding primary care facilities in rural and underserved urban areas while increasing funding for community health workers. Preventative healthcare is also a priority, addressing issues like chronic conditions, malnutrition and maternal health, aiming to improve long-term outcomes.
The Petro administration has taken significant steps to combat gender-based violence by implementing stricter penalties and increasing funding for shelters and legal aid services. The government has also strengthened anti-discrimination laws, focusing on reducing workplace and housing discrimination.
The Pacto Histórico government has also taken principled positions on international issues. Petro has been a vocal and principled supporter of Palestine, positioning Colombia alongside other progressive governments in Latin America. Along with Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva he has, correctly, refused to endorse the recent election of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, citing clearly credible concerns about democratic legitimacy.
Petro and Lula proposed a new election as a means to restore democratic legitimacy in Venezuela. They have shown that progressive governments can and should simultaneously hold a principled commitment to anti-imperialism along with democratic values.
Despite its ambitious programme, the Petro-Márquez government faces significant challenges. Colombia’s political system remains dominated by powerful elites who resist structural change. The military and paramilitary groups, often linked to these elites, continue to pose threats to social movements and progressive policies.
One of the most pressing issues facing the Petro-Márquez administration is the ongoing crisis of political assassinations in Colombia. Despite having state power the new government has not been able to crush the entrenched power of the political mafias that protect elite interests with violence. In fact, it has worsened. In 2022, 215 grassroots leaders were killed, marking the highest toll ever recorded. In 2023, there were 188 assassinations.
The influence of US imperialism is another entrenched obstacle for the new government. For decades, Colombia has been a linchpin of US policy in Latin America, with previous right-wing governments receiving billions of dollars in military support. This has entrenched the power of the military-industrial complex and facilitated human rights abuses. While Petro has sought to distance Colombia from the US orbit, the structural dependencies created by decades of intervention cannot be dismantled overnight.
Another critical challenge is the drug trade that funds various mafia groups. Despite decades of militarised approaches, coca production remains a major economic activity in rural areas. Petro has called for a shift away from the US-driven “war on drugs” toward policies focused on crop substitution and economic development. But implementing these changes will require overcoming both domestic and international resistance.
A key lesson from the recent experience of the Colombian left is the importance of building broad coalitions. The Pacto Histórico’s ability to unite diverse social forces — from urban shack dwellers, workers and intellectuals to rural workers and Indigenous communities — was critical to its victory. The process of building and uniting grassroots formations goes back to many years before the party was formed, and has been central to its ability to take power and to exercise power in the interests of the people.
It can take decades of patient organising work to build grassroots organisations and trade unions, and political maturity and vision to unite them into a coherent force. As Donald Trump takes the presidency in the US the pressures on Petro’s government seem likely to intensify. But whatever happens in the coming months and years it has been an extraordinary achievement for the left to take power, and to use it wisely, in such an unequal and violent society.
Dr Buccus is senior research associate at ASRI.