Gustavo Petro, leader of a leftist antiimperialist coalition (which includes the Colombian Communist Party) and former fighter in the communist guerilla group M 19, just won the presidential elections in Colombia! He is the first left wing president in the countrys history! He defeated Rodolfo Hernandez, a Trump style alt right billionaire who was quoted in a radio interview a few years ago saying “I love Adolf Hitler and his philosophy, he was a murderer but i still love him”. YESSS this is great news! A spectre haunts Latin America.
Edit: Among several things, Petro made it clear he would reestablish diplomatic relations with Venezuela and recognize Maduro as the legitimate president (Colombia had until now recognized Guaidó). Rip bozo for Guaidó the loser.
Edit 2: Petro also promised to enact land reform. In Colombia there was never any land reform done, so peasants live in almost feudal conditions, with landlords, oligarchs and corporations using far right death squads to enforce their will on the peasantry. In fact, the new vicepresident, a black woman, is of peasant background, having herself lived under such conditions.
Edit 3: Btw, this is Colombias first black vicepresident ever. Will the libs still simp for her if she doesnt suck up to the US? 🤔🤔🤔
ELI5 how significant is this?
Extremely, not because he will be some super ally of AES but because he try will break Columbia free of US iron clad grip. Of course keep in mind the military is very powerful and hates him and has even threaten him with violence in the past. That said Columbia is often referred to as the Israel of latinAmerica, so if he can make use of power to enact popular reforms and maintain power it could be a huge huge deal and slap in the face to the US and CIA especially, as Columbia is where most cocaine comes from and that’s maintained by the US narco dictator regime .