Colombia’s President-elect Gustavo Petro spoke to Democracy Now! 2018 on his vision for the country after finishing second in the presidential election to right-wing candidate Iván Duque. Petro was a member of the M-19 guerrilla group and mayor of Bogotá. “A new progressivism is emerging,” Petro declared on the occasion. This year he tried again and on Sunday June 20th he won the presidential election and became the first left-wing President of Colombia. The country has long been a conservative bastion in Latin America. Petro vowed to tackle worsening climate change, poverty and inequality, and announced tax increases for the rich and more social programs, as well as better access to education and health care.
To learn more about this topic, see (in English) the conversation we had with Gustavo Petro.