2023-04-18 17:32:14
Gustavo Petro’s visit to the United States is one of the greatest advances in his foreign policy. This not only undoes the idea that relations with Washington are doomed with a left-wing government, but also shows that balances are possible between a priority rapprochement with Latin America and the Caribbean (as stated in the Constitution) and the historic alliance with the north. What does the visit mean, less than a year following Petro took office? What are the challenges of the first face-to-face between the two leaders?
The displacement of the Head of State accompanied by Roy Barreras and David Racero, presidents of the Senate and Chamber respectively -as a sign of interest in maintaining a state relationship- should also serve for Colombia to reiterate its aspiration to turn the ecological transition and decarbonization into paths of his foreign policy. Petro demonstrates that these are not sporadic demands, but a request that he hopes to make a State priority. His speech at the United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues revealed a speech committed to the idea of including within Colombian diplomacy voices from territories that, in 200 years, have had little place in foreign policy. This seems to prove the success in the appointment of Leonor Zalabata as Colombian representative to the United Nations supported by the alternate representative Arlene Tickner, the Colombian professor with perhaps the greatest impact on International Relations studies. After the appointment of the former was announced, a journalist and a former presidential candidate publicly and contemptuously announced their concern regarding the lack of preparation of the leader and for not speaking English.
Time has shown the need to undo myths regarding foreign representativeness. This success contrasts with unjustifiable appointments that seem to confirm the use of the foreign service to pay for political favors.
At the Petro Biden summit, at least three key issues are at stake: “total peace” -harshly criticized in recent times-, the strategy once morest drugs that Colombia intends to modify, and Venezuela, a priority for Bogotá and Washington.
For the Colombian government, a gesture of support from the government and the United States Congress for the peace process with the ELN is essential. The harsh criticism that multiplied with the appearance of an article in The Economist that qualifies the panorama as “total chaos” -in a country with unusual levels of careerism, where the opinion of the foreign press is usually overestimated, even more so if it is European- added to the cruel murder of 9 soldiers in Catatumbo, make Think of a dialogue in intensive care.
For Petro, it is important that the United States demonstrate in favor of the negotiated disarmament of the ELN and, as was done with the FARC, appoint a special envoy to accompany the process. Now then, as it happened during the mandate of Juan Manuel Santos, it will only happen if Washington has some certainty that the dialogues are solid. In the same way, the resources that it can contribute are essential to guarantee the viability of an eventual post-conflict.
The government has a historic opportunity to confront the United States and put on the table the need for a change in the strategy once morest drug trafficking. The moment is unbeatable, since pressure is exerted from within for substantial changes. The legalization of recreational marijuana use in several states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, New York, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, among others) suggests that there is a climate for alternative, more environmentally compatible proposals to be received. and in proportion to the degree of responsibility you want to participate in the complex chain of production and distribution. Nothing guarantees that there will be a change in the short term, but Colombia has a space to reaffirm the principle of “shared responsibility” assumed by all governments since César Gaviria, and only suspended in the eight years of Uribe and four of Duque.
Finally, Venezuela appears as a relevant issue in which Colombia intends to play a double role. On the one hand, verifying the regional leadership as a recipient of migrants, something that rightly comes from the previous government and that has given it regional and international recognition. And on the other, Petro wants to play as a hinge between Caracas and Washington, taking advantage of his condition as the only interlocutor between the opposition, the ruling party (Venezuelan) and Biden. With this meeting, Petro has a unique and difficult to repeat opportunity to correct mistakes, following a series of false starts on Twitter and due to the justified criticism of foreign service appointments.
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