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The Left Victory in Colombia
Against the backdrop of a long history of armed confl ict between the left guerrillas on the one hand and the state and right-wing paramilitary forces on the other, the repressive machinery of the Colombian state, the oligarchy and the fact of Colombia being the staunchest ally of the United States in the region, the electoral victory of the left represents a great shift in the Colombian political land scape and the political common sense of the Colombian people.
On 20 June 2022, a rainbow appeared in the skies of the Colombian capital city of Bogota. Images of the rainbow towering over the Plaza de Bolívar, an important landmark in the city went viral among the supporters of the Colombian left. For them, it was symbolic of a major turning point in the history of the country and the hopes for the possibility of a new Colombia. The night before, left leader Gustavo Petro was elected as the first leftist president in the history of the country. The Colombian election result is a continuation of the tendency of the return of the pink tide in Latin America.
The first decade of the 21st century witnessed the rise of centre-left governments in different countries in Latin America posing a challenge to the United States (US) hegemony in the region. However, they lost power in many countries during the second decade of the century leading political pundits to assume that the pink tide had come to an end and that Latin American politics is turning to the right end of the political spectrum.
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