Petro puts Colombia's diplomatic weight behind Arévalo in Guatemala

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has closed ranks in support of Bernardo Arévalo in Guatemala. His diplomatic audacity, which on other occasions has caused friction and criticism, in this case earned him a standing ovation from the Central American country heading to Davos (Switzerland), where he will participate starting this Tuesday in the World Economic Forum. The umpteenth attempt to torpedo the transfer of command, which could only be completed in the early hours of Monday, meant that some of the international guests at the ceremony had to leave before the oath. Not the Colombian, who remained firm in his promise not to leave until Arévalo took office.

“Applause that is worth it. “Struggles that must be given,” Petro wrote in a message accompanied by the video of the moment of the ovation on X – formerly Twitter – his favorite social network. “My personal position is the same as always, the fight for democracy from any point of view and through many paths. That is why we launched a solidarity campaign that helped in a certain way to ensure that the destabilization that was underway did not have an effect,” he told the press from Guatemala City, where he had previously left in the air the possibility of canceling his trip to Davos if circumstances required it.

Petro, the first left-wing president of contemporary Colombia, is aligned with the anti-corruption message of Arévalo and his Semilla Movement. He had already positioned himself clearly with respect to the Central American country just a year ago, before Arévalo was even considered a contender in the August elections, when the questioned Guatemalan Prosecutor's Office unexpectedly accused his Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez. “We will defend him, he will continue to be our minister. If Guatemala insists on arresting just men, then we have nothing to do with Guatemala,” he then declared. Although he called the Colombian ambassador for consultations, the suggestion of a break in relations with the Government of Alejandro Giammattei did not materialize.

Minister Velásquez, Petro maintained at the time, was persecuted by the interests he touched when he headed the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) between 2013 and 2017, which exposed the rottenness of the Central American country's political class. In that position, sponsored by the United Nations, Velásquez dismantled dozens of corruption structures and clashed with many Guatemalan powers. He stepped on a lot of ground, but he was very respected.

The accusation by prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche was presented as progress in the investigations of the case involving the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. That same prosecutor, questioned in his country and identified as a corrupt actor by the United States, asked in December to annul the elections in which Arévalo was elected, in what the Organization of American States (OAS) flatly considered an “attempted coup State”. Since Semilla's candidate won the elections, the Prosecutor's Office headed by Consuelo Porras tried to torpedo the inauguration of the president-elect by opening several judicial processes. From the Spanish Pedro Sánchez to the Chilean Gabriel Boric, the international community denounced these maneuvers as an attack on democracy and supported Arévalo, but few embraced the Guatemalan cause with as much fervor as Petro.

Petro's arrival to power, a year and a half ago, marked the path of the new Latin American left. His speech in favor of the fight against climate change, rethinking global policy against drugs or seeking peace positioned him internationally at the start of his mandate. Later, his hyperactivity on social networks has undermined Colombian diplomacy. Guatemala has somehow allowed him to reassert himself after several false steps.

From the Latin American left they warn about the risks of a politicized justice, with great differences from country to country. The complaints of lawfare, banning or overthrow attempts such as that suffered by Lula da Silva in Brazil have clouded regional politics. “Arévalo is progressive, and Petro feels identified with what progressivism has classified as the main threat against democracy, which is legal warfare, and he feels that Arévalo has been a victim of lawfare”, points out Mauricio Jaramillo, professor of International Relations at the Universidad del Rosario, in Bogotá.

Petro wants to be a regional leader, he adds, and every time constitutional tension arises he takes the opportunity to stand out as a defender of democracy. He also did so in the case of Pedro Castillo in Peru, dismissed after a clumsy attempt at a self-coup, but that position caused him an avalanche of criticism and reproaches at the time. The prominence that he had in Guatemala allows him to rearrange his figure in Latin America.

Putting Colombia's weight behind the legitimacy of Arévalo's election, without hesitation, worked out well, according to analyst Sergio Guzmán, from the consulting firm Colombia Risk Analysis. “I applaud what Petro did in Guatemala, but we have to see his democratic attitudes in a broad spectrum,” he clarifies. “Petro will also be judged by how democratic he is at home, how much he responds to the legitimate demands of the opposition,” he adds. For now, the president of Colombia can point to a timely diplomatic achievement.

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