Gustavo Petro
Encyclopedia
Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (born 19 April 1960) is a Colombia
n politician of the Political Independent movement Progresistas (Progressivists). As a young man he fought with the 19th of April Movement
, which later evolved into the Alianza Democrática M-19. He then became active in newly-established Alianza Democrática M-19 political movement. He was also a candidate of the Alternative Democratic Pole
in the 2010 presidencial election, but lost at ranking fourth after the now President Juan Manuel Santos
, Antanas Mockus
and German Vargas Lleras
respectively. After departing of the Pole
in 2010, Petro is now Bogota's Elected Mayor, from 2011 until 2015.
in 1981 and councilman from 1984 to 1986.
accused the National Front
of electoral fraud. Four years later, in 1974, the 19th of April Movement emerged in opposition to the National Front coalition. In 1978 M-19 stole the sword of "El Libertador", Simón Bolívar
, and about 5,000 weapons from a military garrison, El Canton Norte. Petro (who was eighteen at the time) may have demonstrated his militancy to the group by, after his election as councilman of Zipaquirá, helping to hide the weapons in the city.
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. He then traveled to Belgium, enrolling in graduate studies in Economy and Human Rights in Lovaina. He earned a doctorate in Modern Business Administration at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain.
in 1991, representing the Cundinamarca Department
.
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 guerrilla colleague Antonio Navarro Wolff
and other former M-19 guerrilla members. During this period he was named "Best Congressman", both by his own Congress colleagues and the press.
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. 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.
(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.
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.
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
.
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 guerrilla 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".
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.
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.
In a 5 September 2007 interview for the Colombian newsweekly magazine Revista Cambio
, Petro argued that "the FARC are insensitive to the calls of both the international community and Colombian society, because they have lost contact with the world after the assassinations of UP
members. And since they don't need social and popular support any longer (because they make their living from the drug trade), that increases their insensitivity". During that same interview, Petro compared the FARC to Pol Pot
and stated that "FARC aren't revolutionaries, they aren't left– but right-wing and they are criminals".
Petro was among those who participated in a 4 February 2008 worldwide demonstration against the FARC. His political party's leaders officially decided not to do so, voting 18 to 3 against an initial proposal made by Petro. The senator had previously met with the organizers of the march, asking them why the event was only against FARC and not the paramilitary
forces or the ELN
. After he decided to participate, according to Petro, the "traditional left" labeled him as an "Uribist".
Senator Petro later stated that "this is a demonstration against kidnappings and against the FARC, and it is clear that the democratic expression of the citizenry cannot be stopped".
, 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.
In the presidential election held 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
.
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n politician of the Political Independent movement Progresistas (Progressivists). As a young man he fought with the 19th of April Movement
19th of April Movement
The 19th of April Movement or M-19, was a Colombian guerrilla movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance , or AD/M-19.The M-19 traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent presidential elections of 19 April 1970...
, which later evolved into the Alianza Democrática M-19. He then became active in newly-established Alianza Democrática M-19 political movement. He was also a candidate of the Alternative Democratic Pole
Alternative Democratic Pole
The Alternative Democratic Pole is a political alliance in Colombia, formed by the Independent Democratic Pole and the Democratic Alternative in December 2005...
in the 2010 presidencial election, but lost at ranking fourth after the now President Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón is a Colombian politician who has been the President of Colombia since 7 August 2010. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Trade, Minister of Finance, and Minister of National Defense.-Career:...
, Antanas Mockus
Antanas Mockus
Aurelijus Rutenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas is a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician.The son of Lithuanian immigrants, he left his post as the president of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá in 1993, and later that year ran a successful campaign for mayor...
and German Vargas Lleras
Germán Vargas Lleras
Germán Vargas Lleras is a Colombian lawyer and politician currently serving as Minister of the Interior of Colombia. From 1994 to 2008 he served as Senator of Colombia for four consecutive terms, and during the Colombian presidential election of 2010 he ran as a candidate for the Radical Change...
respectively. After departing of the Pole
Alternative Democratic Pole
The Alternative Democratic Pole is a political alliance in Colombia, formed by the Independent Democratic Pole and the Democratic Alternative in December 2005...
in 2010, Petro is now Bogota's Elected Mayor, from 2011 until 2015.
Early life
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 18 he became a member of the 19th of April Movement, and was involved in military and political activities. During his time in 19 April Petro became a popular leader, and was elected ombudsman of ZipaquiráZipaquirá
Zipaquirá is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Tausa and Cogua to the north; Nemocón, Gachancipá and Sopó to the east; Cajicá and Tabio to the south; and Subachoque and Pacho to the west. Its seat of municipal government is 49...
in 1981 and councilman from 1984 to 1986.
M-19 militancy
After the presidential elections of 19 April 1970, the National Popular AllianceNational Popular Alliance
The National Popular Alliance or ANAPO was a political party in Colombia. It was founded in 1961 as a movement by the ex-president Gustavo Rojas Pinilla and was disbanded in 1998...
accused the National Front
National Front (Colombia)
National Front was a period in the history of Colombia in which the two main political parties; Liberal Party and Conservative Party agreed to let the opposite party govern, intercalating for a period of four presidential terms....
of electoral fraud. Four years later, in 1974, the 19th of April Movement emerged in opposition to the National Front coalition. In 1978 M-19 stole the sword of "El Libertador", Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
, and about 5,000 weapons from a military garrison, El Canton Norte. Petro (who was eighteen at the time) may have demonstrated his militancy to the group by, after his election as councilman of Zipaquirá, helping to hide the weapons in the city.
Education
After M-19 disbanded, Petro graduated with a degree in economics from the Universidad Externado de ColombiaUniversidad Externado de Colombia
The Universidad Externado de Colombia in Bogotá, Colombia, is a private university which grants 4 and 5 year primary and professional degrees as well as advanced 2-year Magister degrees. Instruction is primarily in Spanish. The dean is Dr...
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. He then traveled to Belgium, enrolling in graduate studies in Economy and Human Rights in Lovaina. He earned a doctorate in Modern Business Administration at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain.
Political career
After the demobilization of the M-19 guerrilla movement, former members of the group (including Petro) formed a political party called Alianza Democrática M-19 which won a significant number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives of ColombiaChamber of Representatives of Colombia
The Chamber of Representatives is the lower house of the Congress of Colombia.The Chamber has 166 elected members for four-year terms.-How the Chamber is elected:...
in 1991, representing the Cundinamarca Department
Cundinamarca Department
- Origin of the name :The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua. Meaning "Condor's Nest", it was used in pre-Columbian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands....
.
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 guerrilla colleague Antonio Navarro Wolff
Antonio Navarro Wolff
Antonio Navarro Wolff is a Colombian politician and former commander of the 19th of April Movement guerrilla group, which demobilized and formed a political party which he also led...
and other former M-19 guerrilla members. During this period he was named "Best Congressman", both by his own Congress colleagues and the press.
As a member of Vía Alterna, Petro created an electoral coalition with the Frente Social y Político to form the Independent Democratic Pole
Independent Democratic Pole
The Independent Democratic Pole or , is a left-wing social democratic political party in Colombia.-Origins:...
, which in 2005 fused with the Alternativa Democrática to form the Alternative Democratic Pole
Alternative Democratic Pole
The Alternative Democratic Pole is a political alliance in Colombia, formed by the Independent Democratic Pole and the Democratic Alternative in December 2005...
, 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. During this year he also exposed the Parapolitics scandal, accusing members and followers of the government of mingling with paramilitary groups
Paramilitarism in Colombia
Paramilitarism in Colombia refers to the origins and activities of far right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia during the 20th century.Right-wing paramilitary groups are the parties considered to be most responsible for human rights violations in Colombia during the later half of the current...
in order to "reclaim" Colombia.
Opposition to the Uribe Government
Senator Petro has vehemently opposed the government of Álvaro Uribe Vélez. 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 is imprisoned and under investigation for ties to the (now disbanded) paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of ColombiaUnited Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia was created as an umbrella organization of regional far-right...
(AUC). Senator Petro alleged that the AUC financially contributed to the presidential campaign of Álvaro Uribe
Álvaro Uribe
Alvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....
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.
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.
On 17 April 2007, Senator Petro began a debate in Congress about CONVIVIR
CONVIVIR
CONVIVIR was a national program of cooperative neighbourhood watch groups created by a February 11, 1994 decree of Colombia's Ministry of National Defense and a law passed in the Colombian Congress, in response to growing guerrilla activity...
and the development of paramilitarism in Antioquia Department
Antioquia Department
Antioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range...
. 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
Antioquia Department
Antioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range...
during the CONVIVIR years, and presented an old photograph of Álvaro Uribe's brother, Santiago, alongside Colombian drug trafficker Fabio Ochoa Vázquez
Fabio Ochoa Vázquez
Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was a ranking member of the notorious Medellín Cartel, which was one of the top Colombian cocaine trafficking groups. The youngest of the three Ochoa brothers, he lived in Miami, Florida during the 1970s...
.
The Minister of Interior and Justice, Carlos Holguín Sardi
Carlos Holguín Sardi
Carlos Holguín Sardi is a lawyer and politician, member of the Colombian Conservative Party. Holguin has served two terms as Governor of Valle del Cauca Department, the first from September 1976 to September 1978 and the second one from January 1992 to December 1994...
and the Minister of Transport
Ministry of Transport (Colombia)
The Ministry of Transport is the national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia responsible for charge of regulating transportation in Colombia.- History :...
, Andrés Uriel Gallego were asked to defend the president and his government. Both of them questioned Petro's past as a guerrilla 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".
President Uribe's brother, Santiago Uribe, affirmed that his father and the Ochoa brothers had grown up together and were in the Paso Fino
Paso Fino
The Paso Fino is a naturally gaited light horse breed dating back to horses imported to the Caribbean from Spain. Pasos are prized for their smooth, natural, four beat, lateral ambling gait and are used in many disciplines, but are especially popular for trail riding...
horse business together. He then mentioned that he also had many photographs, taken with many people.
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.
Criticism of FARC
Senator Gustavo Petro has publicly criticized the FARC guerrilla group.In a 5 September 2007 interview for the Colombian newsweekly magazine Revista Cambio
Revista Cambio
Cambio also known as Revista Cambio is a Colombian based social, political and economics magazine. Founded with the name Cambio 16 was later sold and renamed Cambio in 1998 to nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez and other associates...
, Petro argued that "the FARC are insensitive to the calls of both the international community and Colombian society, because they have lost contact with the world after the assassinations of UP
Patriotic Union (Colombia)
The Patriotic Union or UP , was a leftist Colombian political party founded by the FARC and the Colombian Communist Party in 1985, as part of the peace negotiations that the guerrillas held with the Conservative Belisario Betancur administration...
members. And since they don't need social and popular support any longer (because they make their living from the drug trade), that increases their insensitivity". During that same interview, Petro compared the FARC to Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
and stated that "FARC aren't revolutionaries, they aren't left– but right-wing and they are criminals".
Petro was among those who participated in a 4 February 2008 worldwide demonstration against the FARC. His political party's leaders officially decided not to do so, voting 18 to 3 against an initial proposal made by Petro. The senator had previously met with the organizers of the march, asking them why the event was only against FARC and not the paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
forces or the ELN
National Liberation Army (Colombia)
National Liberation Army is a revolutionary, avowed Marxist guerrilla group that has been operating in several regions of Colombia since 1964....
. After he decided to participate, according to Petro, the "traditional left" labeled him as an "Uribist".
Senator Petro later stated that "this is a demonstration against kidnappings and against the FARC, and it is clear that the democratic expression of the citizenry cannot be stopped".
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. 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 TenjoTenjo
Tenjo is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca....
, Cundinamarca
Cundinamarca Department
- Origin of the name :The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua. Meaning "Condor's Nest", it was used in pre-Columbian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands....
. These members had first identified themselves as members of the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad
Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad
The Administrative Department of Security was the Security Service agency of Colombia, also responsible for the immigration services. It was dissolved on 31 October 2011 as part of a wider Executive Reform, and it was superseded by the National Directorate of Intelligence, DNI.- Activities :Its...
(DAS) the Colombian Intelligence Agency but their claims were later denied by Andrés Peñate, director of the agency.
2010 Presidential campaign
In 2008, Petro announced his interest in a presidential candidacy for 2010. 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 Alvaro 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 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
Germán Vargas Lleras
Germán Vargas Lleras is a Colombian lawyer and politician currently serving as Minister of the Interior of Colombia. From 1994 to 2008 he served as Senator of Colombia for four consecutive terms, and during the Colombian presidential election of 2010 he ran as a candidate for the Radical Change...
and ahead of Noemí Sanín
Noemí Sanín
Marta Noemí del Espíritu Santo Sanín Posada is a Colombian lawyer and politician, twice Ambassador of Colombia to the United Kingdom, as well as Ambassador to Spain and Venezuela...
.