Gustavo Petro Takes Office as Colombia’s President

The president-elect of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, will take office this Sunday in the presence of illustrious personalities from around the world and some 100,000 Colombians expected at the Plaza de Bolivar, in downtown Bogota.

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

"As of today Colombia changes. It is another. It is not a change to take revenge or to create more hatred," Petro asserted in his first speech after being elected by more than 11 million citizens.  

According to local sources, the transfer of power ceremony will be attended by the presidents of Bolivia, Luis Arce, of Chile, Gabriel Boric, Costa Rica's Rodrigo Chaves, Argentina's Alberto Fernandez and Honduras' 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.

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

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

The former mayor of Bogota comes to power at the age of 62 with 50.47 percent of the votes cast in the elections of June 19, when his coalition Pacto Histórico won over the Liberal Rodolfo Hernández.

His running mate, Francia Márquez, becomes the second woman and first African-American to occupy 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 a voice to black, indigenous, peasant and other peoples marginalized during a century of right-wing domination.