‘In Colombia it’s the government against the establishment,’ a fringe meeting hears

Colombia’s first left-wing government is fighting reforms and peace despite fierce opposition from the ruling class, Labour MPs heard on Tuesday night.

Colombian Congressman Alirio Uribe described the ambitious social projects of the government of Gustavo Petro, including redistributing land to poor farmers, eradicating extreme poverty for 1.6 million people and rolling out public health care.

Above all, the party was committed to a complex peace process that included not only the rehabilitation of former guerrilla fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), who disarmed in 2017, but also ongoing talks with left-wing militias still fighting (such as the ELN) and right-wing paramilitary and mafia groups such as the Gulf Clan.

In total, nine different negotiations are underway, Mr Uribe said, but he warned that “peace has many enemies” and that powerful vested interests are constantly working to undermine the government.

“The government is against the establishment and the real power still lies with the establishment,” he said, referring to the opposition to President Petro organized in Congress, in the courts and through the mass media that spread disinformation on a daily basis.

Another major concern was climate change, he said. The Petro government is determined to reduce deforestation in the Amazon.

Speakers including MPs Kate Osborne and Fabian Hamilton and TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak praised Justice for Colombia’s work in bringing delegations of trade unionists to Colombia to meet their colleagues in what remains the world’s most dangerous country for trade unionists, where paramilitary groups continue to murder worker representatives and social activists.

People hold posters in support of Colombian President Gustavo Petro during a rally in support of his proposed reforms at Bolivar Square in Bogota, Colombia, September 19, 2024