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Janae Pierre: Welcome back to The Takeaway. I'm Janae Pierre. On Monday, US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken met with Columbia's president, Gustavo Petro in Bogota. On the agenda, a number of key policy positions that are central to future US-Columbian relations.

Gustavo Petro: [Spanish language]

Janae Pierre: In a speech before the UN's general assembly last month, President Petro said, "The war on drugs has failed. The fight against the climate crisis has failed." Petro has called for an end to aerial spring to eradicate coca plants, a practice he says unfairly targets poor farmers, and backs legislation which could decriminalize cocaine. He has reestablished diplomatic relations with Venezuela and reopened the border and he urged Latin American countries to question taking sides in Russia's war on Ukraine.

Here to discuss these moves and their impact on US-Columbia relations is Camila Hernandez, the Associate Director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council. Camila, thanks for joining us.

Camila Hernandez: Thank you for having me.

Janae Pierre: Talk a bit about who President Petro is as a leader, and also can you tell me about the significance of his presidency?

Camila Hernandez: President Gustavo Petro is the first leftist president in Columbia in the history of the country. It was a very significant election because it showed that the country wanted a change from the status quo. The political career of Gustavo Petro has been really interesting because he was a member of an armed group when he was younger. He demobilized the M-19 and then came into politics.

He first went into Congress and then became Mayor of Bogotá. This was not the first time he ran. He ran a couple of times before and this time around he was able to mobilize a lot of voters including voters that historically have not voted in Columbia. These are historically marginalized populations like indigenous groups. He was able to mobilize that base to win a second-round election. His presidency is significant.

His cabinet is significant. It's important because his vice president is the first afro-Colombian woman to be a vice president. Her winning that race is remarkable because she not only comes from poverty but she has very little political experience.

Janae Pierre: Let's talk about Petro's first two months in office. What have they looked like?

Camila Hernandez: The first two months he ended with a lot of popularity, favorable ratings. Some polls put his approval ratings up to 69% relatively high during the first couple of weeks and the first month of his presidency. There are three main things that he focused on specifically that have led to some debate. For example, changes to the defense sector. He did campaign on promises to reform the defense sector to protect life and human rights and achieve his vision for a [foreign language] piece.

Specifically, what he's done in terms of security, he put a halt on bombings which generated debates because the purpose was to avoid collateral damage and civilian casualties, particularly of minors recruited by armed groups. Some have argued that this policy may lead to increased child recruitment because armed groups may use children as human shields. Then the next step in this policy is to renew commercial relations, of course, with Venezuela. This will include reactivating flights which hasn't happened yet. There are some conversations around that but that's the next step in terms of relations with Columbia's neighbor.

Janae Pierre: Now, let's get to President Petro's speech at the UN General Assembly where he announced that he was ending the Columbian war on drugs. What does that look like from a policy perspective?

Camila Hernandez: It was definitely a very strong, very energetic speech. Something unlike anything we've seen from a Columbian president in recent history, frankly. The implications are many in terms of policies. First, that strong call to end the war on drugs is significant because it means a shift in the military approach to counter-narcotics that Columbia has historically had. Columbia has also been a prohibitionist, really strong in terms of not legalizing any type of narcotic.

This may mean that there will be and actually there already are projects to legalize, for example, marijuana and that sort of thing within the countries. Then second the speech also revealed a disposition to diversify Columbia's alliances and to corporate with other countries in terms of counter-narcotics. This means the country may start rethinking corporation with allies like the United States and focusing on strengthening the global south as President Petro mentioned and strengthening relations in general with other countries in the region.

President Petro did emphasize the concept of core responsibility in his speech a number of times. This will likely mean a change in focus in terms of not only it tackling the issue from the producer and exporter perspective where Columbia stands, but also from the consumer front. Here he alluded to the United States specifically.

Janae Pierre: Yes. I wanted to talk about that a little bit more. How will that impact relations between the US and Columbia?

Camila Hernandez: I think it's definitely a change in narrative and a potential shift in the way that both countries cooperate in terms of counter-narcotics, but it definitely doesn't mean a rupture in their relationship. The speech most likely did not come as a surprise to the United States. Before UNGA, The White House held US-Columbia high-level dialogue, where Columbia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Leyva and the Minister of Defense Velasquez met with National Security Advisor, Finer and Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman.

As well as representatives from the Department of Defense and the Homeland Security, Department of Justice where they discussed the importance of continuing to cooperate on issues of security and counter-narcotics. I do think some components of the speech were discussed during that meeting and that the US and Columbia will continue to work together on counter-narcotics. It will most likely look a little different than what it historically has looked like but it is true that there has to be some change in terms of what both countries are doing because Coca Cultivation is at an old-time high.

Janae Pierre: Lastly Camila before we let you go, I know it's only been two months for President Petro in office, but how is he being received by the Columbian public so far?

Camila Hernandez: He does have relatively favorable ratings according to some polls, but there have been initial protests as well from the opposition. Many of these protests have stemmed from his tax reform, for example, and his security policies and his approach to the defense sector that we are seeing initial protests. For now, most of the Colombian people are waiting and seeing what happens in the next couple of months.

Janae Pierre: That was Camila Hernandez, associate director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council. Thanks.

Camila Hernandez: Thank you.

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