2023-04-23 03:30:05
Some of lime and others of sand. In some way, this could describe the tour that President Gustavo Petro had this week through USA and in particular by Washington, where he was received by President Joe Biden and had appointments with at least 70 Democratic and Republican congressmen.
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Although the meeting with the US president cleared up doubts about the status of Colombia as a strategic ally of the US. now that there is a leftist leader in the House of Nariño, his forays through the legislature exposed the fissures that have begun to emerge in this vital body, which is the one that approves the aid that the country has been receiving for more than two decades. At least that was the reading that diplomatic sources in both countries and knowledgeable about this relationship gave this newspaper.
Although it took Biden eight months to invite Petro to the White House, when he did it was at the highest level, with a working visit that so far he has only offered to leaders of three Latin American countries (Brazil, Argentina and Mexico) and surrounded by The most prominent figures of his administration: Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and his National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan.
There were a total of almost two hours between a private meeting and another with the delegations of both countries in which the common issues shone more than the differences that still persist on issues such as the drug trafficking
In fact, there was a lot of harmony on the climate change agenda, where the US President announced a new $500 million initiative to save the Amazon, and the establishment of a task force to advance electrical interconnection in the Americas, which seeks to reduce the cost of energy , promote the growth of the regional renewable energy market and reduce energy dependence on fossil sources.
President Petro with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
And they were also on the same page when they addressed an economic agenda that aims to generate job opportunities in both countries with an emphasis on social inclusion, labor rights and environmental sustainability.
At the end of the meeting, both countries did something not very common in this type of scenario: publish a joint statement reiterating “the strategic importance of the partnership between the United States and Colombia.”
A statement that contains many platitudes, but also clearer lines of where it is going in the future. And with several notable details that, among the noise of the visit, went a little unnoticed. For example, in the chapter on drug trafficking, there was no mention of the eradication of illicit crops. Instead the emphasis was placed on interdiction and intelligence cooperation to hit drug cartels.
Biden also expressed his support for the peace efforts of President Petro and his adviser for the Western Hemisphere, Juan Gonzalezand even aired in an interview with EL TIEMPO the possibility of appointing a special envoy to accompany them.
In general, this is an objective balance of our visit.
The issues that I consider most important are: the budgetary linkage of the EEUJ to the Agrarian reform in Colombia and the change of debt for climate action in the whole world, a proposal that must be developed in the IMF
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) April 21, 2023
On the subject of Venezuela, which was very present, Petro obtained strong support from Biden for the international conference that will be held this Tuesday in Bogotá with the sending of a solid delegation of officials. Without being on the same page, it was an area in which they got closer, since they went from the “zero sanctions in exchange for democracy” that was initially proposed, to a scheme where both things will progress in parallel.
More hidden, but just as telling, the Colombian supported Biden on a central issue on his agenda, but about which Petro had been ambiguous: the frontal condemnation of all forms of authoritarianism “including the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine by Russia against international law.”
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In short, a stop at the White House where coincidences took precedence and both leaders accommodated their positions for the common good. At least lip service.
“For Biden – a diplomatic source told this newspaper – the rapprochement with Petro is very relevant in two fundamental aspects. On the one hand he sends the message that he is willing to work with any democratically elected leader regardless of his ideological orientation. Key in a context in which authoritarianism is advancing in the world and in his own country.
Likewise, it needs to counterbalance the growing influence of China in the region and in this new bipolar world where two opposing axes are emerging that compete as in the times of the Cold War”.
And it was also strategic, given the advance of a left in the region that is already in power in the five main economies (Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Colombia).
Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar (right) and Gustavo Petro.
Foto @RepMariaSalazar
Disagreements with congressmen
Biden sends the message that he is willing to work with any democratically elected leader regardless of their ideological orientation.
The bitter side of the visit was the chapter of the Capitol. Although Petro received important backing, such as that of Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, were so much more vocal his critics that they started shooting even before the president landed in the city. Through opinion columns, editorials, social networks and statements to the media, influential Republican figures such as Marco Rubio, María Elvira Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart, and even the Democrat Bob Menéndez, made it clear to him that the antipathy runs deep.
Rubio described Petro as the president of “chaos”; Salazar said that after meeting with the president, she was more concerned than ever about Colombia; and Díaz-Balart announced that she intends to “put conditions” on future aid given to the country.
Much has to do with Petro’s rapprochement with Venezuela, the resistance to eradication and negotiations with groups outside the law.
Something expected, given the profile of some legislators and the polarization that exists in US politics, but which was exacerbated by unforced errors by the president and his officials.
The words of Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva when he described the aid that the United States has given to Colombia as “alms”, and the reaction of the president when describing his critics as “the extreme right”. To which had already been added the defense made by the vice president, Francia Márquez, of the Cuban model, an explosive issue in the US.
The bipartisanship against the country is already in check. But it could get worse if Colombia and President Petro end up in the middle of this Republican-Democratic train wreck.
Like it or not, Republicans now control the House of Representatives and legislators like Díaz-Balart and Salazar are chairmen of the commissions that monitor relations with Colombia and approve economic assistance.
Fear, according to experts, is the fracture that is already being seen in the historic bipartisan support that existed for the country. And that although it did not start with Petro, it has been growing by leaps and bounds since he became president. Plus an aggravation: the US is entering what promises to be a contentious electoral campaign ahead of the 2024 elections in which the new majorities in Congress and Biden’s permanence in the White House will be defined.
“The bipartisanship against the country is already in check. But it could get worse if Colombia and President Petro end up in the middle of this train wreck between Republicans and Democrats”, affirmed another diplomatic source who preferred to omit his name due to the delicate moment.
A moment that for today gives the Colombian president oxygen to advance his domestic and international agenda, but that outlines stormier seas in the near future.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
EL TIEMPO correspondent
Washington
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