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Gustavo Petro

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Petro and the second or maternal family name is Urrego.
Gustavo Petro
File:Gustavo Petro Mayor of Bogota (cropped).jpg
Member of the Colombian Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 July 2018
In office
20 July 2006 – 20 July 2010
Mayor of Bogotá
In office
23 April 2014 – 31 December 2015
Preceded byMaría Mercedes Maldonado (Acting)
Succeeded byEnrique Peñalosa
In office
1 January 2012 – 19 March 2014
Preceded byClara López Obregón
Succeeded byRafael Pardo (Acting)
Member of the
Colombian House of Representatives
In office
20 July 1998 – 20 July 2006
ConstituencyCapital District
In office
1 December 1991 – 20 July 1994
ConstituencyCundinamarca
Personal details
Born
Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego

(1960-04-19) 19 April 1960 (age 64)
Ciénaga de Oro, Colombia
Political partyM-19 Democratic Alliance (1990-1997)
Alternative Way (1998–2002)
Regional Integration Movement (2002–2004)
Alternative Democratic Pole (2004–2010)
Humane Colombia (2011–present)
Other political
affiliations		Historic Pact
Spouse(s)
Mary Luz Herrán Cárdenas
​
​
(m. 1992; div. 2003)​

Verónica Alcocer García
​
​
(m. 2003)​
ChildrenNicolás - Andrea, Andrés - Nicolás (Arbeláez), Sofía, Antonela
Alma materExternal University of Colombia
Graduate School of Public Administration
Pontifical Xavierian University
University of Salamanca
WebsiteOfficial website

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡusˈtaβo fɾanˈsisko ˈpetɾo uˈreɣo]; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian politician and economist who currently serves as senator of the Republic of Colombia.[1][2]

At 17 years of age he became a member of the guerrilla group M-19, and farc[3] the group later evolved into the M-19 Democratic Alliance, a political party in which he was elected to be member of the Chamber of representatives in the 1991 elections. Petro served as a senator as a member of the Alternative Democratic Pole party following the 2006 legislative elections with the second-largest vote in the country. In 2009, he resigned his position to aspire to the presidency of Colombia in the 2010 Colombian presidential election, finishing fourth in the race.[4]

After problems and ideological differences with the leaders of the Alternative Democratic Pole, he founded the movement Humane Colombia to compete for the mayoralty of Bogotá, the Capital City of the country. On 30 October 2011, he was elected Mayor of Bogotá in the local elections of the city, a position he assumed on 1 January 2012.[5]

On 27 May 2018 he came second in the first round of the presidential election with over 25% of the votes and lost in the run-off election on 17 June.[6]

Gustavo Petro is a front-runner in the 2022 Colombian presidential election.[7] He has promised to focus on climate change and reducing Greenhouse gas emissions that cause it by ending fossil fuel exploration in Colombia.[8]

Early life

Petro was born in rural Ciénaga de Oro, in the department of Córdoba, in 1960. His parents were farmers. He was baptized Gustavo Francisco in honor of his father and grandfather and milkman.[9] Petro was raised in the Roman Catholic faith and has stated on numerous occasions that he holds this religious belief.[10] Seeking a better future, Petro's family decided to migrate to the more prosperous Colombian inland town of Zipaquirá – just north of Bogotá during the 1970s.[11]

Petro studied at the Colegio de Hermanos de La Salle, where he founded the student newspaper Carta al Pueblo ("Letter to the People"). At the age of 17 he became a member of the 19th of April Movement, and was involved in activities. During his time in 19 April Petro became a leader, and was elected ombudsman of Zipaquirá in 1981 and councilman from 1984 to 1986.

M-19 militancy

At a young age (around 17) Petro became a member of the 19th of April Movement (M-19),[12] a Colombian revolutionary organisation movement that emerged in 1974 in opposition to the National Front coalition after allegations of fraud in the 1970 election.[13]

In 1985, Petro was arrested by the army for the crime of illegal possession of arms. He was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.[14][11]

Education

Petro graduated in economics from the Universidad Externado de Colombia and began graduate studies at the Escuela Superior de Administración Pública (ESAP). Later, he earned a master's degree in economics from the Universidad Javeriana.[15][16] He then traveled to Belgium, enrolling (but not graduating) in graduate studies in Economy and Human Rights in Université catholique de Louvain. He also has unfinished studies towards a doctoral degree in public administration from the University of Salamanca, in Spain.[17][18][19]

Early political career

After the demobilization of the M-19 movement, former members of the group (including Petro) formed a political party called the M-19 Democratic Alliance which won a significant number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia in 1991, representing the Cundinamarca Department.[20]

In 2002, Petro was elected to the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia representing Bogotá, this time as a member of the Vía Alterna political movement he founded with former colleague Antonio Navarro Wolff and other former M-19 members. During this period he was named "Best Congressman", both by his own Congress colleagues and the press.[21]

As a member of Vía Alterna, Petro created an electoral coalition with the Frente Social y Político to form the Independent Democratic Pole, which in 2005 fused with the Alternativa Democrática to form the Alternative Democratic Pole, joining a large number of leftist political figures.

In 2006, Petro was reelected Senator of Colombia, mobilizing the second highest voter turnout in the country.[22] During this year he also exposed the Parapolitics scandal, accusing members and followers of the government of mingling with paramilitary groups in order to "reclaim" Colombia.[23]

Opposition to the Uribe Government

See also: Álvaro Uribe

Senator Petro has vehemently opposed the government of Álvaro Uribe. In 2005, while a member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, Petro denounced the lottery businesswoman Enilse López (also known as "La Gata" [the cat]). As of May 2009, she was imprisoned and under investigation for ties to the (now disbanded) paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Senator Petro alleged that the AUC financially contributed to the presidential campaign of Álvaro Uribe in 2002. Uribe refuted these statements by Petro but, during his presidential reelection campaign in 2006, admitted to having received financial support from Enilse López.[24]

During Álvaro Uribe's second term as president, Petro encouraged debate on the Parapolitics scandal. In February 2007 Petro began a public verbal dispute with President Uribe when Petro suggested that the president should have recused himself from negotiating the demobilization process of paramilitaries in Colombia; this followed accusations that Uribe's brother, Santiago Uribe, was a former member of the Twelve Apostles paramilitary group in the mid-1990s. President Uribe responded by accusing Petro of being a "terrorist in civilian clothing" and by summoning the opposition to an open debate.[25]

On 17 April 2007, Senator Petro began a debate in Congress about CONVIVIR and the development of paramilitarism in Antioquia Department. During a two-hour speech he revealed a variety of documents demonstrating the relationship between members of the Colombian military, the current political leadership, narcotraffickers and paramilitary groups. Petro also criticized the actions of Álvaro Uribe as Governor of Antioquia Department during the CONVIVIR years, and presented an old photograph of Álvaro Uribe's brother, Santiago, alongside Colombian drug trafficker Fabio Ochoa Vázquez.[26]

The Minister of Interior and Justice, Carlos Holguín Sardi and the Minister of Transport, Andrés Uriel Gallego were asked to defend the president and his government. Both of them questioned Petro's past as a revolutionary member and accused him of "not condemning the warfare of violent people". Most of Petro's arguments were condemned as mud-slinging. The day after this debate the president said "I would have been a great guerrilla, because I wouldn't have been a guerrilla of mud, but a guerrilla of rifles. I would have been a military success, not a fake protagonist".[27]

President Uribe's brother, Santiago Uribe, affirmed that his father and the Ochoa brothers had grown up together and were in the Paso Fino horse business together. He then mentioned that he also had many photographs, taken with many people.[28]

On 18 April 2007 the Vigilance and Security Superintendency released a communique rejecting Petro's accusations concerning the CONVIVIR groups. The Superintendency said that many of the groups mentioned were authorized by the Departments of Sucre and Córdoba, but not by the Antioquia government; it also added that Álvaro Uribe, then Antioquia's governor, had eliminated the legal liability of eight CONVIVIR groups in 1997. It was also mentioned that the paramilitary leader known as "Julian Bolívar" had not yet been identified as such and was not associated with any CONVIVIR during the authorization of these groups.[29]

Death threats

Petro has frequently reported threats against his life and the lives of his family, as well as persecution by government-run security organizations.[30] On 7 May 2007 the Colombian army captured two Colombian Army intelligence non-commissioned officers that had been spying on Petro and his family in the municipality of Tenjo, Cundinamarca. These members had first identified themselves as members of the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) the Colombian Intelligence Agency but their claims were later denied by Andrés Peñate, director of the agency.[31]

2010 Presidential campaign

In 2008, Petro announced his interest in a presidential candidacy for 2010.[32] He distanced himself from government policies and, along with Lucho Garzón and Maria Emma Mejia, led a dissenting faction within the Polo Democrático Alternativo. Following Garzón's resignation from the party, Petro proposed a "great national accord to end Colombia's war," based on removing organized crime from power, cleaning up the judicial system, land reform, democratic socialism and a security policy differing considerably from the policies of President Uribe. On 27 September 2009, Gustavo Petro defeated Carlos Gaviria in a primary election as the Alternative Democratic Pole candidate for the 2010 presidential election.

In the presidential election held on 30 May 2010, Petro did better than polls had predicted. He obtained a total of 1,331,267 votes, 9.1% of the total, finishing as the fourth candidate in the vote total, behind Germán Vargas Lleras and ahead of Noemí Sanín.

Mayoralty of Bogota

Mayor Petro in 2012.

During Petro's administration, measures such as the prohibition on the carrying of firearms were advanced, which led to the reduction of the homicide rate, reaching the lowest figure of the last two decades.[33][34] In his government, various interventions were carried out by the police in El Bronx sector of the city, where seizures of drugs and weapons were made. During the Petro administration, the Women's Secretariat was created and the LGBTI Citizenship Center was inaugurated, where 49 centers for birth control and abortion care were also created in cases permitted by law.[35]

It was proposed as a government policy to conserve the wetlands of Bogotá and plan for the preservation of water in the face of global warming. Following order of the Constitutional Court, began a process of suppression of animal-drawn vehicles used by waste pickers putting many out of work, some were replaced by automotive vehicles and subsidies. In the area of public health, Mobile Attention Centers for Drug Addicts (CAMAD) were created. With these measures, the aim was to reduce the dependency of the destitute in the streets of the sector to the providers of narcotic drugs, providing psychological and medical assistance. During its administration, the District put into operation two primary-care clinics at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, closed in 2001. The Mayor promised that he would allocate resources to purchase the Hospital grounds and reopen one of the buildings of the complex. The project remained stopped due to the Cundinamarca government's suspension of the sale of the properties. On 11 February 2015, as mayor of Bogotá, the protocol ceremony for the reopening of the San Juan de Dios Hospital Complex was finally formalized. The District bought the hospital with a view to reopening it. During his last month in office, before the liquidation of Saludcoop on 1 December 2015, the district had difficulties with the new patients who became part of the EPS Capital Salud.

In his government, the application of the Integrated Public Transport System (SITP) began, inaugurated in mid-2012. Likewise, during the administration of Petro, subsidies paid by the District to reduce Transmilenio tariffs were created. In turn, since early 2014 the administration provided a 40% subsidy for the value of the ticket for the population affiliated to SISBEN 1 and 2, for which it allocated 138 billion pesos. This subsidy is not delivered immediately, as it requires registration in a database, and is valid only for 21 passages when using the blue buses of the SITP.

The construction of a subway for the city was one undelivered proposal. During his administration, he contracted studies of the subway infrastructure to a Colombian-Spanish company for $70,000 million pesos, which successfully ended at the end of 2014. Approval from the federal government was necessary to begin construction, but the Santos' administration refused to authorize it. The subway plans contracted by Petro's administration were discarded by his successor Enrique Peñalosa, who opted for an elevated railway system with lower investment required and better coverage, allegedly. These claims have been refuted by several independent studies who have found out that both the social and economic cost of an elevated railway system is higher than the original underground railway system planned by the previous administration.

Recall

During his administration as mayor, Petro faced a recall process started by opposition parties and supported by the signatures of more than 600,000 citizens. After the legal verification 357,250[36] signatures were validated, many more than legally required to start the process.[37][38] On 9 December 2013, he was removed from his seat and banned from political activity for 15 years,[39] by Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado, following the sanctions stipulated by the law. His sanction was allegedly caused by mismanagement and illegal decrees signed during the implementation of his waste collection system.[40] This led to a series of protests citizens who deemed the Inspector's move as controversial, politically biased and un-democratic.[41][42]

Despite being granted an Injunction by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which suspended the sanction imposed by Inspector General Ordoñez, President Juan Manuel Santos upheld the removal and Petro was removed from office 19 March 2014.[43] For his temporary replacement, Santos appointed as Mayor the current Labor Minister, Rafael Pardo. On 19 April 2014, a magistrate from the Superior Tribunal of Bogota ordered the president to obey the recommendations laid out by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Petro was reinstated as mayor on 23 April 2014 and finished the length of his term.

2018 presidential campaign

Main article: 2018 Colombian presidential election

In 2018, Gustavo Petro was again a presidential candidate, this time getting the second best result in voting counting, in the first round (27 May 2018). With this vote, Petro advanced to the second round and became eligible to run for President of Colombia.[44] His campaign was run by publicists Ángel Beccassino, Alberto Cienfuegos and Luis Fernando Pardo.[45] A lawsuit was filed by citizens against Duque alleging bribery and fraud. The News chain Wradio made public the law suit 11 July, which was presented to the CNE (Consejo Nacional Electoral, National Electoral Council, by its acronym in Spanish).[46] The state of the law suit will be defined by the Magistrado Alberto Yepes.

Petro's platform emphasized support for universal health care, public banking, rejecting proposals to expand fracking and mining in favor of investing in clean energy, and land reform.[47]

In the second round of voting, Petro's right-wing opponent, Iván Duque, won the election with more than 10 million votes, while Petro took second place with 8 million votes. Duque was inaugurated on 7 August; meanwhile, Petro returned to the Colombian Senate.[48]

He received death threats from the super paramilitary group Águilas Negras.[49]

2022 presidential campaign

Main article: 2022 Colombian presidential election

In 2022 Gustavo Petro had declared that he will be running in the 2022 elections.[50] Petro’s campaign platform included promoting green energy over fossil fuels and a decrease in economic inequality. Furthermore, he promised to establish the ministry of equality. Following his victory in the Historic Pact primary, Petro selected Afro-Colombian human rights and environmental activist and recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize, Francia Márquez, to be his running mate.[8][51]

References

  1. ^ Semana.com. "Gustavo Petro Urrego: hoja de vida del candidato de 'Colombia Humana'". Gustavo Petro Urrego: hoja de vida del candidato de 'Colombia Humana' (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  2. ^ "¿Quién es Gustavo Petro? Perfil del candidato de la izquierda en Colombia". CNN (in Spanish). 14 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Former guerrilla Petro fights to become Colombia's first leftist president". Reuters. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Gustavo Petro, Colombia's unorthodox left-wing presidential candidate". www.efe.com. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  5. ^ The former Colombian revolutionary leader was elected mayor of capital, Bogota - BBC News, 31 October 2011
  6. ^ "Iván Duque wins election to become Colombia's president". the Guardian. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Gustavo Petro: Ex-rebel wins his coalition's primary". BBC News. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  8. ^ a b Aronoff, Kate (22 March 2022). "Colombia's Fossil Fuel Industry Is Freaking Out About Presidential Front-Runner Gustavo Petro". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Educación para la mayoría de edad –Diálogo con Rafael Gutiérrez Girardot–", Filosofía y prensa en Colombia, Ediciones USTA, pp. 137–147, 4 April 2018, doi:10.2307/j.ctvb938xz.18, retrieved 14 September 2021
  10. ^ Publimetro. "¿Gustavo Petro es ateo? La pregunta que se hacen en redes sociales". Publimetro (in European Spanish). Retrieved 14 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ a b "Gustavo Petro, a political biography". www.colombia-politics.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ "Colombia - The 19th of April Movement". www.country-data.com. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  14. ^ Vacía, La Silla. "¿Volverá a jugar el pasado de Petro en esta campaña?". Súper Amigos - La Silla Vacía (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  15. ^ Mayor of the Month; City Mayors; Adriana Maciel, Alidad Vassigh; June 2012
  16. ^ "Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Gustavo Petro, el 'progresista'". 29 September 2011.
  18. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. ^ "Gustavo Petro, a political biography - Colombia Politics". Colombia Politics. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  21. ^ Caracol Radio, El Congreso eligió a los mejores y peores de esta legislatura (in Spanish)
  22. ^ es.Wikinews, Resultados elecciones legislativas de 2006, march 2006
  23. ^ Semana (2 February 2007). "Crece tensión por anunciado debate sobre 'parapolítica' en Antioquia". Semana.com Últimas Noticias de Colombia y el Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  24. ^ "Hay Gata encerrada" (in Spanish). Semana.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  25. ^ El Tiempo, ¿Que se olviden del debate con Uribe? Dos ex miembros del M-19 hicieron reflexionar al Presidente[permanent dead link](in Spanish)
  26. ^ Las acusaciones de Petro (video)(in Spanish)
  27. ^ Presidente Álvaro Uribe responde a acusaciones de paramilitarismo del senador Gustavo Petro. El Tiempo. 18 April 2007
  28. ^ Una foto de Santiago Uribe, hermano del presidente, con Jorge Luis Ochoa, fue mostrada por Petro. El Tiempo. 18 April 2007
  29. ^ Superintendencia de Vigilancia salió en defensa del Presidente frente al debate de Gustavo Petro. El Tiempo. 18 April 2007
  30. ^ "IACHR Annual Report 2008 - Chapter IV". www.cidh.oas.org. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  31. ^ Investigan a dos militares por espionaje a familia de Petro. El Espectador. 7 May 2007
  32. ^ "Gustavo Petro lanzó su candidatura en el Polo Democrático". Caracol Radio. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2009.[permanent dead link]
  33. ^ "Los aciertos del alcalde Gustavo Petro". Caracol Radio. 16 January 2013. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  34. ^ El Tiempo. "Bogotá, con la tasa de asesinatos más baja en 30 años". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  35. ^ "Nace centro público para atender abortos". El Espectador. 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  36. ^ http://www.registraduria.gov.co/IMG/pdf/conceptos_firmas_petro.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  37. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  38. ^ http://www.revocatoriapetro.org Archived 2013-06-17 at the Wayback Machine
  39. ^ Bogota mayor Gustavo Petro sacked and banned from office - BBC News, 10 December 2013
  40. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  41. ^ http://www.noticiascaracol.com/nacion/video-311374-siguen-protestas-a-favor-de-petro-la-plaza-de-bolivar
  42. ^ Thousands march for sacked Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro - BBC News, 14 December 2013
  43. ^ Bogota mayor loses fight to stay in office - Yahoo News, 19 March 2014
  44. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  45. ^ "Los publicistas de Petro que la sacaron del estadio" (in Spanish). 16 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  46. ^ "Demandan proceso de elección de Iván Duque en el Consejo de Estado". W Radio (in Spanish). 12 July 2018.
  47. ^ bogotapost (22 May 2018). "Presidential candidates: Gustavo Petro". The Bogotá Post. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  48. ^ "Meet Gustavo Petro, Colombian Former Guerrilla & Leftist Who Mounted Historic Campaign for Presidency". Democracy Now. 10 August 2018.
  49. ^ "Águilas Negras amenazan de muerte a Petro, Bolivar y a quien los apoye en Soacha". Las 2 Orillas (in Spanish). 8 September 2020.
  50. ^ "Explainer: Who's Who in Colombia's 2022 Presidential Race". AS/COA. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  51. ^ Oscar Medina (24 March 2022). "Petro Names Afro-Colombian Environmentalist as Running Mate". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
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