Gustavo Petro is sworn in as Colombia’s president

Gustavo Petro Urrego was inaugurated on Sunday, August 7, as constitutional president of Colombia for the period 2022-2026, a ceremony held at the Plaza de Bolivar in the city of Bogota, where thousands of citizens arrived, along with presidents and world leaders who traveled to the country to participate in the event.

Petro was escorted with his wife Veronica Alcocer and children by members of the Armed Forces of Colombia, as well as the Indigenous, Peasant, and Maroon Guard of the South American country.

At the site, he greeted members of Congress, as well as King Felipe VI of Spain and other presidents attending the ceremony, including those of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso; Argentina, Alberto Fernández; and Chile, Gabriel Boric, among others.

After the emotional performance of the National Anthem by soprano Betty Garcés, accompanied by the Symphonic Orchestra of Colombia and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá and the main Colombian cities, Petro took his oath of office before the president of the Congress of the Republic, Roy Barreras.

He then received the presidential sash from Senator María José Pizarro, daughter of the murdered Carlos Pizarro, a militant of the then M-19 guerrilla group.

Once he was sworn in as president, Petro ordered the ceremonial sword of Simón Bolívar to be brought to him, whose official venue is the Casa de Nariño (presidential headquarters), which the previous government refused to bring to the official act for security reasons.

The Colombian president inaugurated his vice-president, Francia Márquez, the first Afro-descendant woman to occupy such a high public office in Colombia and who promised to protect her people.

Barreras celebrated the arrival of Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, and recalled that his triumph obeys the mandate of the majority of Colombians, who believe that a better country is possible.

“Today we have arrived here thanks to a popular mandate, to a river, to a torrent of wills, to a tired but strong and dignified people who raised their faces, raised their heads, raised their voices, and said No more! We are capable of leading our own destiny,” said the congressional representative.

He expressed that with Petro at the head of the Colombian government, the country will finally be able to implement the Peace Agreements and continue with the same process with the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and other armed groups that are willing to surrender their weapons.

Before the president’s speech, the ceremony was suspended because he would not deliver it until the sword of the Liberator Simon Bolivar arrived to accompany him in the emblematic square.

The ceremony was also attended by the president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, as well as the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, in addition to the foreign minister of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez, and the foreign minister of Panama, Erika Mouynes.

Giant screens were installed in public squares in Bogota and other Colombian cities so that thousands of citizens could celebrate the inauguration of Petro, elected president, after three attempts to govern the country.

With information from Xinhua