Colombia’s leftist leader turns radical with an attempt to rewrite the constitution

When former guerrilla member Gustavo Petro ran for president in 2018, he was so eager to convince voters that he would not rewrite the constitution that he had the promise engraved on a marble slab.

Petro finally became president almost two years ago, but now he is taking a very different tone. The power to change the constitution, he said in a speech this month, was not “a phrase plucked from thin air” but “an opportunity for the Colombian people to take control of their own destiny.”

Petro claimed that opponents prevented him from fulfilling campaign promises, adding: “They are angry about the color of my skin, about the fact that I was born in a simple house and studied in a public school.”

The left-wing president had already upset business leaders by abruptly moving away from oil and mining, and unnerved the middle class with plans to nationalize pensions and health care.

He has now said he wants to set up popular assemblies to push through reforms – bypassing Congress and the courts – and has suggested they could amend the constitution, alarming human rights groups and opposition politicians. His proposals appear to stem from frustration that the broad coalition he initially formed has fallen apart, complicating his ability to implement change.

Some analysts see potential similarities with Hugo Chávez, the late Venezuelan authoritarian leftist who proclaimed a Constituent Assembly after taking office in 1999, bypassing Congress and the courts.

Chávez consolidated power, increased state control over the economy, boosted spending and cracked down on the opposition. Under his chosen successor, Nicolás Maduro, the economy collapsed and more than seven million Venezuelans fled the country, including about two million in Colombia.

“Both leaders see their political project as a form of ending the entire existing system and creating a completely new institutional framework adapted to their own needs,” said Nastassja Rojas, a Venezuelan professor of political science at Javeriana University in Bogota.

Colombia’s current charter was written in 1991 with input from the guerrilla movement to which Petro belonged, the M-19, which had demobilized and become a political party. The document strengthened democracy, created independent institutions, decentralized power and introduced social reforms.

How exactly Petro would approach a constitutional rewrite remains a mystery. Under the current charter, convening a constituent assembly requires the approval of both houses of Congress, where the president does not have a majority. Iván Name, president of the Senate, told Petro not to “demean democracy” by trying to replace that mechanism.

Petro himself has added to the confusion with vague or contradictory references. In some speeches he has said that he wants popular assemblies to be called upon to implement the existing charter. At other times he has suggested that the process of drafting a new constitution has already begun because the people have started it spontaneously.

Moisés Wasserman, a Colombian scientist and former rector of the National University, said: “He seems to be proposing popular assemblies, which are deeply antidemocratic because they can be easily manipulated. Any impartial observer knows that small group gatherings do not represent the population.”

An adviser to Petro told the Financial Times on condition of anonymity: “The Constituent Assembly is the people, and that is what he is talking about.”

“The president likes to measure his strength” by calling his supporters to the streets, they added. “Now he feels stronger.”

Petro led major anti-government protests during the presidency of his right-wing predecessor. Now he is responding to legislative setbacks and criticism of his government’s record by calling for demonstrations to rally supporters.

Esperanza Guarico, who works in construction and demonstrated in support of Petro on May 1, said the turnout that day gave the president a mandate to convene a constitutional assembly.

“The first voice in a country’s constitution is the people and they have spoken today after being ignored forever,” she said.

But Petro’s attempt at reform has sparked counter-demonstrations. On April 21, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Colombia to protest against him, a move that Petro later dismissed as a “death march.”

Opposition leaders say privately they are drawing up plans for national strikes to paralyze the country if Petro tries to convene a Constituent Assembly.

The temperature of the debate rose this week after two election magistrates called for an investigation into what they said were irregularities in Petro’s campaign financing.

Petro attacked what he called a “soft coup.” “It is a clear break with the constitution,” he wrote on X, inviting members of his party and the “social forces of the country” to prepare “against an attempt to disrespect the popular vote.”

“Democracy is in emergency,” he added.

Alejandro Gaviria, who served as Petro’s Education Minister from August 2022 to February 2023, said: “Petro has lost interest in governing and is focused on building a narrative that he was sabotaged so he can fight for power ( at the next elections). by 2026.”

Gaviria added: “He is now at his most populist.”

Petro was elected with the support of a broad centre-left coalition, but dismissed moderate ministers eight months later and has this year replaced respected technocrats in critical institutions with radical activists.

Meanwhile, the economy has come to a standstill and barely grew last year. This year, growth of 1.3 percent is expected. Investment has dried up, capital has fled abroad and inflation remains stubbornly high at 7.4 percent in the year to March.

Petro’s opponents take heart from his low approval rating, which is at 36 percent, according to Datexco.

But the president has no plans to back down. Buoyed by applause and cheers, in his May 1 speech he hit back at critics who say he wants to circumvent the existing constitutional ban on re-election.

“Those who are addicted to power end up killing, but power must be handed over to the people,” the president said. “What I want is a real democracy for everyone.”