Colombia – a guerilla turned politician brings hope

Colombia has voted in its first leftist head of state following similar victories for the left in Peru, Chile and Honduras. Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla fighter in the 1980s, who became a senator and mayor, was voted in on promises of a better future for the poor. He has a reputation for meandering speeches and high-handedness. His vice-president will be Francia Márquez – a prize-winning defender of human and environmental rights – marking the first time that a black woman fills the post.

  There is concern that as in Peru and Chile, leftist outsiders who come to power tend to over-promise and under-deliver and their approval ratings plummet.

  Petro born 19 April 1960 is probably a final degree Aries Sun with a confident Jupiter trine Pluto; and a Yod of Mars sextile Saturn inconjunct Uranus. He shares the same Yod with John Eastman, Trump’s lawyer, born on April 21,  who is being lambasted by the January 6 investigations over ludicrous claims of voter fraud. A focal point Uranus produces a maverick temperament, often wilful and rebellious,  sometimes lawless with a tendency to create divisions around him.  Prince Andrew, born in February 1960 also has a Yod focal point Uranus inconjunct Saturn sextile Mercury – disruptive, lawless and divisive certainly fit.

  In Petro’s case tr Uranus is square his Uranus on and off through this year into early 2023 pushing him onto a different track. His Solar Arc Jupiter is also opposition his Pluto now for a resounding success in the ballot. 2023/2024 look to be high pressure challenging years with tr Pluto square his Sun.

  He’ll be sworn in on August 7 when the disruptive/explosive Mars Uranus North Node conjunction is still in place squaring the Leo Sun opposition Saturn in Aquarius – so it will be a turbulent term ahead.

  Colombia like many South American countries has a myriad of start dates. 17 December 1819 is one and it is labouring mightily through a Neptunian swamp with its Sagittarius Sun, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn Pluto in Pisces catching the directionless and disillusioning Neptune hard aspects through the next two years.

 Petro’s relationship chart with Colombia is part friendly and part riddled with aggravation and prone to setbacks. The composite Sun, Venus, Saturn Mercury square Mars with be stressed and jolted in 2024/2025.

11 thoughts on “Colombia – a guerilla turned politician brings hope

  1. Has the elections of leftist governments in South America not reflected the many years of right wing governments supported by North America and their interference in their elections, oppressing the general population and leading to the carnage wrought on them by right wing ditators not been realised, how North America has been supplied with cheap produce at the expense of decent wages for the general population of South America, so keeping them under control and their wanting too by emigrating to have a better life?

  2. @Chris Romero
    I agree with your points re Chinese influence in those countries, they are using the economic route investing with strings attached and an influx of Chinese nationals to do work, so essentially they do not create many local jobs, training for skills etc. it is a relatively recent phenomenon, but it makes a huge difference to the more radical and revolutionary approach from Russia who have been interfering for longer.
    I read that P Biden also phoned Petro, common courtesy

  3. Roe vs Wade -that Jupiter in Aires square the sun in Cancer [virtually everytime the Sun or Moon is in Cancer, womens rights take a hit]. And this is why I fear Neptune in Aires…And for the record I now officially loathe the States of America where the Left force rapists into Womens prisons , and the Right force Women to gestate the foetus.

    I am incandescent, we all should be. Its not enough to observe from the sidelines anymore.

  4. Marjorie, please have a featured post on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today overturning Roe V. Wade. Roe was the landmark 1973 judgement making abortion legal throughout the nation. The reasoning behind it led to several other important landmark cases through the years, which are now also in jeapordy.
    Extensive discussion of the news is available on all news outlets. Here is a convenient link to the dissenting part of the decision, catastrophically destructive in itself and with the potential to be used to justify an immense rollback discarding half a century of more of social progress: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2022/06/24/the-dissent
    The most central question is whether this reflects a sea change in the will of the voters, or a manipulation by a minority imposing its will. Along with that, is whatever let the Court get away with this a temporary bump, or the opening of a new chapter of decades of such rulings?

  5. Gustavo Petro isn’t going to bring any hope – not to the sane individuals of Colombia or the diaspora. He’s doing a lot of lip service right now, but it’s inevitable he’ll fail.

    My concern is that Gustavo Petro is going to be too sympathetic to nations like China (which has had growing influence here in the Americas in recent years – particularly in nations in the Caribbean and Latin America) and possibly the Russian Federation (which is just as much of a capitalist society as any nation in the West, yet many Global South nations still have this delusional admiration for Vladimir Putin and see him as their “ally” [which he really isn’t]).

    Colombia had a good relationship with the U.S. prior to all of this. I certainly hope Gustavo Petro doesn’t mess everything up. Also, Colombia had been instrumental in training Ukrainians on land mine removal. I hope Colombia doesn’t turn its back on Ukraine in favor of the Russian Federation now.

    I just hope that if Gustavo Petro turns out to be another Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela’s pro-Putin, anti-West dictator), then the opposition in Colombia for form a coup d’état to remove him (and that’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility given that leaders of many Latin American nations tend to come and go like seasons).

  6. A further clarification, Cuba is a communist country, Venezuela appears to be going the same way with Cuban personnel training Venezuelans to run the secret police, Nicaragua is run by a couple who suffer no dissenters, violently left, populist left leaning governments in Peru, Argentina and Chile which means Colombia was until now one of the few to be run by right wing/centrist groups.
    It is to be noted that Mr Putin congratulated Petro on his election and that Russian military are prominent in Venezuela, which really means that the USA has lost a lot of influence in their “back yard”.

    • @ Virginia,

      I have to disagree about the U.S. losing influence in our supposed “back yard.” The political situation in the Caribbean and Latin America is nothing new – many of these nations have been oscillating between far-left and far-right politics for years. Despite all of this, the U.S. still has considerable influence and decent working relations with these nations.

      China has, however, probably been our greatest competition, not the Russian Federation, with regards to economic influence in the Caribbean and Latin America. For example, after Hurricane Irma, China began investing in Antigua and Barbuda – they invested in rebuilding the island of Barbuda (which had been flattened by the storm). Also, there’s been speculation that Barbados really decided to remove Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state in an effort to please China (who is investing in the island nation) rather than for the “full sovereignty” argument they claim. Jamaica is also expected to remove Queen Elizabeth II as head of state in 2025 when she turns 99 years old.

      However, even with China’s economic insurgency here in the Americas, most of the Caribbean and Latin America still depend heavily of the United States and many of their diasporas can be found in our country.

      You mentioned that Vladimir Putin (who is slowly becoming a pariah to the rest of the world) called Gustavo Petro to congratulate him. That is true. However, our Secretary of State Antony Blinken also did the same thing. So, it’s all likely just customary. Hopefully, Gustavo isn’t a pro-Putin puppet though.

      So far, the only nations in the Americas that have been outwardly hostile to the United States and U.S. influence have been Cuba (of course) and Venezuela. But….even they’re careful not to rock the boat too much – they are afraid of losing U.S. aid, trade agreements, and the possibly of “regime change.” For example, Nicolás Maduro is apparently terrified (and convinced based on comments he’s made) that the U.S. is going to “invade” Venezuela at some point and oust him. Personally, I think he’s being a little overly dramatic….but…I suppose it could happen if he doesn’t mind his Ps and Qs (If the U.S. really wanted to invade Venezuela, they could and there wouldn’t be anything Maduro or the rest of the world could do about it. Maduro is very lucky Joe Biden isn’t Vladimir Putin).

  7. Why do left wingers loose their popularity in relatively short periods and are booted out, and those left wingers who stay on longer become authoritarians?

    • Sounh, this is quite a vague statement. Any leader/group of any political persuasion has the potential to become authoritarian. Who, specifically, are you thinking of? Context is everything,” as they say.

  8. That’s a drastic shift. Petro wants transition from fossil fuels, he intends to renegotiate Colombia’s trade deals with the US and spoke of his desire to create a new progressive alliance in South America. But the new South American leftist leaders often have diverging positions and they face mounting inflation, low economic growth and rising deficits.
    It would be interesting to see what the Bank of Colombia chart tells us.

  9. Very good comment, perhaps another date would be 19 September 1830 when La Gran Colombia which comprised other territories such as Venezuela, broke up and Colombia became a stand alone country, which would give a totally different chart. However the 1819 chart does signify independence from Spain.
    It is interesting that since the first major assassination (Jorge Eliecer Gaitan) of left wing leaders occurred on 9th April 1948, it has taken since then until now for a first leftist to be elected.

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