Gustavo Petro assumes the presidency of Colombia this Sunday

The elected president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, will take office this Sunday in the presence of illustrious personalities from around the world and some 100,000 Colombians who are expected in the Plaza de Bolívar, in the center of Bogotá.

READ ALSO:

Colombian popular sectors possess Gustavo Petro

A different ceremony is expected, with a high political, emotional and cultural content, with special guests such as the street sweeper from Medellín, Kelly Garcés, who was noted on social networks during the election campaign for defending a photo of Petro in his garbage cart, despite the rejection of some people, including relatives.

“From today Colombia changes. Is another. It is not a change to take revenge or to create more hatred, “said Petro in his first speech after being elected by more than 11 million countrymen.

International media outlets point out that it is significant that after many years of exclusion, persecution and murder, a revolutionary and ex-combatant will brandish the sword of the Liberator Simón Bolívar in the Casa de Nariño, to vindicate the Colombian left and deploy a government of national conciliation .

According to local sources, the transfer of command ceremony will be attended by the presidents of Bolivia, Luis Arce, of Chile, Gabriel Boric, the Costa Rican Rodrigo Chaves, the Argentine Alberto Fernández and the Honduran Xiomara Castro.

There is also talk of the presence of King Felipe VI of Spain, the presidents of Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, among other members of international delegations.

Likewise, the governor of Curaçao, Bernard Whiteman, the vice presidents of El Salvador, Peru and Uruguay, the foreign minister of Brazil and the first lady of Mexico, Beatriz Gutiérrez, are invited.

Petro will relieve Iván Duque, one of the most unpopular leaders on the continent, with 70 percent disapproval, with a sad legacy of violence and non-compliance with the Havana Peace Accords in 2016.

The former mayor of Bogotá comes to power at the age of 62 and with 50.47 percent of the votes cast in the elections held on June 19, when his coalition of the Historical Pact prevailed over the liberal Rodolfo Hernández.

His running mate, Francia Márquez, becomes the second woman and first African-American to hold the vice presidency of the South American country, with the difficult mission of “sowing a new and definitive opportunity for life and peace in Colombia” and giving voice to black, indigenous, peasant and other marginalized peoples during a century of right-wing domination.