Gustavo Petro wins the Colombian election, becoming the country's first Leftist president.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. The issue would then be

whether those "Radical Liberals" were actually engaged in what we would call "terrorism" to gain control of the government power structure or whether they were merely strongly positing, promoting, and actually enacting the far left policies as elected officials and/or as part of a recognized party infrastructure. The group he was involved in (19th of April Movement - Movimiento 19 de Abril) was one of the few that didn't embrace Stalin as the alternate to the RW fascist nationalism and corporatism, but before that, were literally kidnapping and murdering officials and taking over embassies.

Here is Reuter's take -

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Reuters
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Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, won Colombia's presidency. He is the first leftist in Colombia to claim victory in a presidential election https://reut.rs/3y5iUwI
7:35 AM · Jun 20, 2022

Colombia elects former guerrilla Petro as first leftist president

By Nelson Bocanegra, Oliver Griffin and Carlos Vargas



BOGOTA/BUCARAMANGA, June 19 (Reuters) - Leftist Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, who has vowed profound social and economic change, won Colombia's presidency on Sunday, the first progressive to do so in the country's history. Petro beat construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of more than 700,000 votes in what analysts said was a demonstration of Colombians' eagerness for efforts to combat deep inequality.

Petro, a former mayor of capital Bogota and current senator, has pledged to fight inequality with free university education, pension reforms and high taxes on unproductive land. He won 50.5% to Hernandez's 47.3%. Petro's proposals - especially a ban on new oil projects - have startled some investors, though he has promised to respect current contracts. His victory was likely to cause market jitters until his cabinet is announced, analysts told Reuters on Sunday. "From today Colombia changes; Colombia is different," Petro told cheering supporters in Bogota's concert arena. "Change consists precisely in leaving behind sectarianism." "It is not a time for hate, this government, which will begin on Aug. 7, is a government of life," he said.

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Petro, 62, said he was tortured by the military when he was detained for his involvement with the guerrillas, and his potential victory had high-ranking armed forces officials bracing for change. Petro's running mate, Francia Marquez, a single mother and former housekeeper, will be the country's first Afro-Colombian woman vice-president.

Petro has also pledged to fully implement a 2016 peace deal with FARC rebels and seek talks with the still-active ELN guerrillas. Analysts have said the proposed halt to oil development could send investment elsewhere at a time when Colombia is struggling with low credit ratings, a large trade deficit and national debt which has doubled to 72% of GDP over the last decade. Oil accounts for nearly half of exports and close to 10% of national income, but Petro argues new projects should be barred for environmental reasons and to move Colombia away from dependence on the industry. Petro has also promised to increase taxes and royalties on extractive industries and charge major landholders for unproductive land, raising some $5.2 billion. He also proposes to raise up to $3.9 billion by progressively taxing companies.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombians-head-polls-tightest-election-recent-memory-2022-06-19/