Petro Dominates Amidst the Chaos

The ministers and advisors of Gustavo Petro have shared among themselves the tactic to be used upon entering his office. This consists of greeting the president affectionately, listening to his response, and immediately asking very specific questions, preferably those that can be answered with a yes or no. Otherwise, the orders may not be clear. Petro can be caustic, but he can also be expansive. In the latter case, he overwhelms those around him. “The president must be interpreted,” says someone who works at the Casa de Nariño, the presidential residence.

Since he took office, he has tried to promote a national agreement, a constitutional assembly, a consultation to approve some of his reforms, and a “total” peace with armed groups of which there is now no trace. Fifty-eight ministers have passed through, some of whom lasted only a few months. Almost all have transitioned from being by his side to criticizing him. His right hand was Laura Sarabia and now it is his former greatest enemy, Armando Benedetti. Just this week it became known that Álvaro Leyva, his first chancellor and someone who whispered in his ear to change the Constitution and seek reelection, was plotting to overthrow him. Additionally, someone he appointed to one of the most important positions, Carlos Ramón González, fled before a court ordered his detention for corruption. Petro reigns in chaos.

A few days ago, he said he would be happy when he leaves Casa de Nariño in 2026, a building he finds pretentious due to its neoclassicism, filled with ghosts. His relationship with his vice president is non-existent since he suspects she has sided with Leyva in plans to oust him, although she has denied it, and he has no evidence to support his belief. On Thursday, Sarabia submitted her resignation after being publicly discredited in a scandal involving passport issuance, which threatens to collapse in September. She was his hands and eyes during the first two years of government, despite being only 29 years old. One day, she discovered “something” he didn’t like, and he first appointed her as chancellor and later publicly showcased her failures, an invitation for her to leave of her own accord. He showed no mercy in his farewell on social media: “One must put their heart into the poorest, into what is right, and never be conquered by greed. Greed is the enemy of revolution and of life. I hope that today Laura is a better woman than she was when she met me. Fair winds and following seas.”

In private, he claims to feel lonely. Misunderstood, attacked from all fronts. Those around him are not revolutionary enough; they have not risked their lives as guerrillas, nor have they been imprisoned or persecuted by paramilitarism. He complains about the dozens of appointments he has made himself. Now he has realized that Sarabia, his right hand for a long time, was isolating him and putting him in a bubble, as his environment had warned him. “Our worst enemies have been ourselves. You appoint them and they have not delivered results. Step up,” adds a very close collaborator. One of the most important ministers he has had, now out of the administration, analyzes the government this way: “Petro’s change will not be a bridge or a road. It is what he has brought, a change in forms, style, showing that people other than the elites can govern. And that is not a minor legacy.”

They portray him as an idealist, but that fails to see the complete picture. Since things didn’t go well with the technocrats and centrist politicians he included in his first cabinet, nor with names from classic petrismo, he has now placed the workings of the government in the hands of the questioned Armando Benedetti, a former Santista and Uribista who has been involved in some scandals, and Alfredo Saade, a Christian leader with a history in right-wing parties. He trusts that they will help him push through issues that need political quorum — they are skilled negotiators in the underbelly of Congress — and manage to broker agreements with different currents so that someone aligned with him succeeds him. Benedetti has also managed to pass labor reform, a project that dignifies the conditions of workers.

In parallel, he is promoting the organization of a popular consultation so that citizens, in his view, approve his main reforms, such as health and other government plans. This venture generates much resistance in wide sectors, not necessarily only from the opposition. They interpret it as a way to bypass Congress’s authority and push his agenda through a referendum in which he would have the advantage of using state machinery. However, this is not necessarily the case. There are opponents, like former vice president Germán Vargas Lleras, who have called to accept the challenge. Petro would need 13.6 million votes, a very high number, considering he obtained 11.2 in the second round of the presidential election.

“It’s incredible that he hasn’t given up yet. That he gets up every morning and confronts all these battles at once: scandals, problems, corruption. Not even Pedro Sánchez,” adds an important external advisor in his election. This person believes that Petro suffers a disassociation from the historical moment he has to live (or, more accurately, that he has triggered). A daily surge of adrenaline where a week feels like a month in another government.

They consider him finished, believe he is a lame duck with a year of government left. This happened to Iván Duque, his predecessor, who spent his last year managing a popular uprising. He ended up locked in the palace, praying in a chapel. However, some analysts consider that the coming year will be turbulent because he will not leave things as they are. Some even suggest that, with a 29% popularity rating from the Invamer poll, he could decide who his successor will be, regardless of whether they come from the left or the center. His obsession is that it not be Vicky Dávila, former director of the magazine Semana and now a right-wing presidential candidate, one of the best positioned in the polls. In any case, he has 13 months left before he exits through the door; 13 months in a country submerged in the deep waters of bewilderment.