Gustavo Petro

Gustavo Petro
Born	Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego 19 4, 1960
Birthplace	Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba, Colombia
Nationality	Colombian
Occupation	Politician, economist
Known for	35th President of Colombia; first left-of-center president in Colombia's recent history
Spouse(s)	Template:Plainlist
Awards	ODB, ODSC, OYC

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian politician and economist serving as the 35th President of Colombia since 7 August 2022. His inauguration marked a historic shift in Colombian politics, as he became the first left-of-center president in the country's recent history. Petro's political trajectory has been shaped by decades of activism, legislative work, and executive leadership, beginning with his involvement as a teenager in the guerrilla group 19th of April Movement (M-19) and evolving through service in the Colombian Chamber of Representatives, the Senate of Colombia, and the mayoralty of Bogotá. Before entering the presidency, Petro built a reputation in the Colombian Congress for his investigations into corruption and links between paramilitary groups and politicians, a series of revelations that became known as the "parapolitics" scandal. His path to the nation's highest office included a fourth-place finish in the 2010 presidential election, a tenure as mayor of Bogotá from 2012 to 2015 that was marked by both policy achievements and political controversy, a narrow defeat in the 2018 presidential runoff, and ultimately his victory over Rodolfo Hernández in the 2022 presidential election. Since taking office, Petro has pursued an ambitious domestic reform agenda and an active foreign policy that has at times brought Colombia into diplomatic tension with the United States and other nations.

Early Life

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego was born on 19 April 1960 in Ciénaga de Oro, a municipality in the Córdoba Department of northern Colombia. The region, situated in the Caribbean lowlands, was predominantly rural and marked by significant socioeconomic inequalities during the mid-twentieth century. Details of Petro's immediate family background and upbringing in Ciénaga de Oro remain sparsely documented in available English-language sources, though he later relocated to the Cundinamarca region, where he would begin both his education and his political engagement.

At the age of 17, Petro joined the 19th of April Movement (M-19), a Colombian guerrilla organization that had formed in response to the disputed 1970 presidential election. The M-19 differed from other guerrilla groups in Colombia in that it drew significant support from urban, middle-class youth and intellectuals, and its operations often targeted symbolic sites rather than pursuing rural insurgency in the manner of the FARC. Petro's involvement with the M-19 lasted through several pivotal years in Colombian history.

In 1985, Petro was arrested by the Colombian army due to his affiliation with the M-19. He was imprisoned for a period during a time of intense conflict between the Colombian state and guerrilla organizations. The M-19 eventually entered into a peace process with the Colombian government, culminating in a negotiated demobilization in 1990. Following the peace agreement, the M-19 disarmed and transformed into the M-19 Democratic Alliance (AD M-19), a legal political party that participated in the 1991 Constituent Assembly, which drafted a new Colombian constitution. Petro was released from prison and transitioned into civilian political life, serving as a councilman in Zipaquirá, a city in the Cundinamarca department north of Bogotá. This early experience in local government provided Petro with a foundation for his subsequent career in national politics.

Career

Congressional Career (1991–2010)

Following the peace process between the M-19 and the Colombian government, Petro entered formal electoral politics. He was elected to the Chamber of Representatives in the 1991 Colombian parliamentary election, representing the Cundinamarca constituency. He served in the Chamber from 1 December 1991 to 20 July 1994 during this initial term. Petro subsequently returned to the Chamber of Representatives, serving from 20 July 1998 to 20 July 2006, this time representing the Capital District (Bogotá).

During his years in the Chamber, Petro developed a profile as an outspoken legislator focused on exposing corruption and the infiltration of paramilitary organizations into Colombian political institutions. His investigations into the ties between right-wing paramilitary groups and Colombian politicians contributed to what became known as the "parapolitics" scandal, one of the largest political scandals in Colombian history. These revelations led to criminal investigations against numerous sitting members of congress and exposed deep structural links between armed groups and the political establishment, particularly among politicians associated with former president Álvaro Uribe.

Following the 2006 Colombian parliamentary election, Petro was elected to the Senate of Colombia as a member of the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA), securing the second-largest vote total in the election. He served in the Senate from 20 July 2006 to 20 July 2010. The PDA, a left-wing political party, provided Petro with a platform to continue his congressional work on anti-corruption issues. However, ideological disagreements with the party's leadership would eventually lead to a rupture.

In 2009, Petro resigned his Senate seat in order to run in the 2010 Colombian presidential election. He campaigned on a platform of social justice, anti-corruption, and progressive economic reform. In the first round of voting, Petro finished fourth, failing to advance to the runoff. Despite this defeat, his presidential campaign raised his national profile and established him as a significant figure on the Colombian left.

Mayor of Bogotá (2012–2015)

Following ideological disagreements with the leadership of the Alternative Democratic Pole, Petro founded the Humane Colombia (Colombia Humana) movement as a political vehicle to compete in the 2011 Bogotá mayoral election. On 30 October 2011, he won the mayoral election, and he assumed office on 1 January 2012.

Petro's tenure as mayor of Bogotá was notable for both its policy ambitions and the intense political controversies that surrounded it. Among the cited achievements of his administration was a significant reduction in the city's homicide rate. According to reports, Bogotá recorded its lowest murder rate in 30 years during Petro's time in office. His administration also took steps in public health policy, including the establishment of a public center to provide abortion services in accordance with Colombian law, a move that drew both praise and criticism.

However, Petro's mayoralty was also marked by significant controversy, particularly over his handling of the city's waste collection system. His administration's decision to take over waste collection from private companies and transfer it to a public entity resulted in a chaotic transition that left garbage uncollected in parts of the city. The controversy fueled opposition to his government and generated a movement to recall him from office. Proponents of the recall collected signatures in an attempt to force a referendum on his removal, though a significant number of the collected signatures—close to 200,000—were reportedly annulled.

In December 2013, Colombia's Inspector General (Procurador General), Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado, issued a ruling removing Petro from office and banning him from public service for 15 years, citing misconduct related to the waste collection crisis. The decision sparked large protests in Bogotá's Plaza de Bolívar and elsewhere, with supporters rallying to defend Petro's right to remain in office. Petro's legal team challenged the removal, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued precautionary measures ordering Colombia to suspend the Inspector General's decision, arguing that it violated Petro's political rights.

Petro was ultimately removed from office on 19 March 2014, with Rafael Pardo serving as acting mayor. However, he was reinstated on 23 April 2014 following a judicial ruling, and he served out the remainder of his term until 31 December 2015. He was succeeded by Enrique Peñalosa, who won the 2015 mayoral election.

2018 Presidential Campaign

Following his tenure as mayor, Petro returned to the Senate of Colombia, serving from 20 July 2018 to 20 July 2022. Before assuming that second Senate term, however, he mounted a significant campaign in the 2018 Colombian presidential election. Running as the candidate of the Colombia Humana movement, Petro advanced to the first round of voting on 27 May 2018, where he finished second with over 25% of the vote. He proceeded to the runoff election on 17 June 2018, where he faced Iván Duque, the candidate of the Democratic Center party. Petro lost the runoff, and Duque assumed the presidency. Nonetheless, Petro's performance represented the strongest showing by a left-leaning candidate in a Colombian presidential election in decades, and it consolidated his position as the leading figure of the Colombian left.

2022 Presidential Election and Presidency

Petro entered the 2022 Colombian presidential election as the frontrunner in most opinion polls. Running again under the banner of the Pacto Histórico (Historic Pact), a broad coalition of left-wing and center-left parties and movements, he selected Francia Márquez—a prominent Afro-Colombian environmental and human rights activist—as his vice-presidential running mate. On 19 June 2022, Petro defeated Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, an independent populist candidate, in the second round of voting. He was inaugurated as the 35th President of Colombia on 7 August 2022, with Francia Márquez becoming the country's first Afro-Colombian vice president.

Since taking office, Petro has pursued a broad reform agenda encompassing healthcare, pensions, labor law, agrarian reform, and environmental policy. His government has also sought to advance a policy of "total peace" (Paz Total), which involves simultaneous negotiations with multiple armed groups operating in Colombia, including remnants of the FARC, the ELN, and various criminal organizations.

In foreign policy, Petro has taken positions that have at times generated friction with the United States and other governments. He restored diplomatic relations with Venezuela, which had been severed under the Duque administration, and has been vocal on international issues including the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and climate change. His relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who returned to office in January 2025, has been characterized by periods of public tension interspersed with diplomatic engagement. In early 2025, the two leaders clashed over deportation flights and other bilateral issues, with Trump at one point threatening tariffs and other punitive measures against Colombia.

In February 2026, Petro traveled to Washington, D.C. for his first in-person meeting with Trump at the White House. The meeting lasted nearly two hours, after which Trump publicly described Petro as "terrific," a marked shift in tone from the preceding months of mutual criticism. Reporting by The New York Times noted that Petro had struggled to maintain diplomatic restraint in the days preceding the visit, continuing to publicly needle Trump even as the meeting approached. The meeting was characterized by analysts as an attempt by both sides to de-escalate tensions, with Politico describing the dynamic as a "fragile truce" within the broader context of the Trump administration's assertive posture across the Western Hemisphere. NBC News reported that the two leaders had "often clashed" since Trump's return to office, including over the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

In April 2025, Petro assumed the role of President pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), succeeding Xiomara Castro of Honduras.

Personal Life

Gustavo Petro has been married three times. His first marriage was to Katia Burgos, from 1986 to 1992. He subsequently married Mary Luz Herrán, from 1992 to 2000. His current wife is Verónica Alcocer, who serves as First Lady of Colombia. Petro has children from his marriages, though detailed public information on the number and identities of his children varies across sources.

Petro's early involvement with the M-19 guerrilla movement and his 1985 arrest by the Colombian army have remained prominent elements of his public biography and have been both a source of political support and a frequent target of criticism from political opponents, who have sought to associate him with guerrilla violence. Petro and his supporters have consistently emphasized the fact that the M-19 underwent a negotiated peace process and democratic transition, and that Petro's political career has been entirely within the framework of democratic institutions since the early 1990s.

Recognition

Petro's election as the first left-of-center president of Colombia in the country's recent history was itself widely noted as a landmark event in Colombian and Latin American politics. His selection of Francia Márquez as vice president was also noted as a historically significant choice, as Márquez became the first Afro-Colombian and the first person from a social movement background to hold the vice presidency.

During his congressional career, Petro received recognition for his investigative work into parapolitics and corruption. His exposés of connections between paramilitary groups and Colombian politicians contributed to the prosecution of multiple legislators and reshaped public understanding of the extent to which armed groups had penetrated the Colombian state.

The honors associated with his name include the Order of Boyacá (ODB), the Order of the Democratic Star of Colombia (ODSC), and the Order of Yucatán (OYC), as reflected in his official post-nominal letters.

His 2014 removal from the Bogotá mayoralty and subsequent reinstatement drew international attention to the question of political rights in Colombia, with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights intervening on his behalf. The case became a reference point in debates over the power of the Colombian Inspector General's office to remove elected officials.

Legacy

As a sitting president, Petro's long-term legacy remains a subject of ongoing evaluation. His election in 2022 represented a definitive break with the historical dominance of center-right and right-wing parties in Colombian presidential politics. The coalition he assembled, the Pacto Histórico, brought together a diverse array of political forces, including former guerrillas, trade unionists, environmentalists, Afro-Colombian and Indigenous activists, and progressive urban professionals, in a manner that had not previously succeeded at the national level in Colombia.

Petro's political career has also been defined by its arc from armed insurgency to democratic governance. His transition from membership in the M-19 guerrilla group to elected office—first as a municipal councilman, then as a member of the Chamber of Representatives, a senator, the mayor of Bogotá, and ultimately the president—mirrors the broader trajectory of the M-19 itself and has been cited as an example of successful post-conflict political reintegration in Latin America.

His tenure as mayor of Bogotá, despite its controversies, demonstrated both the possibilities and limitations of progressive governance at the municipal level in Colombia. The reduction in homicide rates during his administration was a notable achievement, while the waste collection crisis and subsequent removal proceedings highlighted the institutional and political challenges facing left-wing executives in the country.

On the international stage, Petro's presidency has been characterized by a more assertive and independent Colombian foreign policy, including the restoration of ties with Venezuela and an outspoken stance on global issues. His interactions with U.S. President Donald Trump in 2025 and 2026 have illustrated the complexities of U.S.–Colombian relations under shifting political dynamics in both countries.