Colombia is the most recent Latin American nation to show from the precise, and maybe stand as much as Washington, with the inauguration of Gustavo Petro.
It is a historic day in Colombia, because the nation inaugurated former guerrilla Gustavo Petro as its first left-wing president, and Francia Marquez as its first African-American vp. This was unimaginable not so way back, and earlier than this unlikely staff now lie the widespread challenges of standing as much as American hegemony and fixing many years of social injustice.
The final time it emerged that Colombia would have a left-wing president was in 1948, with the nomination of the fiery and populist Liberal Get together chief Jorge Gaitan. Tragically, Gaetán was assassinated earlier than the elections, resulting in the “La Violencia” interval, during which between 200,000 and 300,000 Colombians had been murdered over the following decade. Within the melee that instantly adopted Gaetán’s assassination, younger Fidel Castro and Gabriel García Márquez, who later turned lifelong mates, met one another briefly on the streets of Bogota. However it’s not sure who was behind the assassination of Gaetan One of the major releasesAnd, definitely I consider, it was the newly created CIA, which might grow to be the instrument of regime change in the US for many years to come back.
Even after La Violencia, Colombia continued to undergo horrific political violence, even these days, With more than 220,000 dead In such violence since 1958. In recent times, such violence has been carried out largely by US-backed military and paramilitary death squads Intently allied with the right-wing governments which have easily ruled Colombia since 2002. State violence since 2002 has been astounding, with Military killing At the very least 6,400 and presumably 10,000 folks from 2002 to 2008 alone. In the meantime, it is over 92,000 Colombians disappearedAnd the More than 5 million Colombians are internally displacedwhich represents one of many largest numbers of internally displaced individuals on the planet.
Given this spectacle and the quite a few demise threats each Petro and Marquez acquired throughout the presidential marketing campaign, and for years prior, many feared that they could undergo the identical destiny as Gaetán. In reality, the 2 Launch a campaign behind bulletproof shields To guard them from the actual menace of assassination. This menace didn’t subside simply because they had been elected, and merely surviving their full time period could be a really actual achievement.
The menace that Petro and Marquez poses to the order and the powers that be, each in Colombia and in Washington, is Prepare To interrupt the centuries-old oligarchy of Colombia and redistribute wealth by shifting the tax burden and strengthening the social security internet so as to profit the poor, indigenous and disenfranchised blacks. Colombia, by design, One of the most unequal societies on earth, and people on the high is not going to hand over their wealth, land or energy simply, and the US, which dominates Colombia by this elite, is not going to enable this to occur simply. As well as, Colombia, the one NATO companion on this hemisphere exterior North America, is The closest ally of the United States in Latin America and base of operations to manage the realm. America, which nonetheless adheres to the Monroe Doctrine, will vigorously resist any try by Petro and Marquez to alter this.
Washington is already aghast at the truth that with the 2 elected, Five of the largest economies in Latin America Now led by left-wing presidents, that might quickly grow to be six if Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s front-runner, is re-elected this yr. American officers are open about the truth that they want to keep management over the area’s huge assets, and these left-wing presidents, who want to use their nation’s assets for the advantage of their folks, stand in the way in which of that management. Commander of US Southern Command Basic Laura Richardson, explain it Lately, the main target of US operations within the area is to take care of management of the area “Off the charts” Sources. As I defined, 60% of the world’s lithium is within the area. You’ve got heavy ore, you could have mild ore, you could have uncommon earth components, you could have the Amazon River…” America has no intention of letting these assets slip by its fingers.
In brief, the actual menace of regime change looms over Colombia’s new Petro/Marquez administration, and it’ll require worldwide vigilance and solidarity to make sure that this menace shouldn’t be realized. Latin America desperately wants the sort of social change that Petro and Marquez promised, and we should be certain that the destiny that befell others like Gaetán, or President Salvador Allende of Chile, who promised the identical, shouldn’t be repeated.
The statements, views, and opinions expressed on this column are these of the writer solely and don’t essentially characterize the views and opinions of RT.
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