Colombia’s&nbsp;Ambassador to India&nbsp;Mariana Pacheco Montes has said that her country electing a left-wing President&nbsp;Gustavo Petro&nbsp;is a show of “strong democracy”.

Speaking to WION’s diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Ambassador&nbsp;Mariana explained, “This is the third time he has gone as a presidential candidate, so he’s not new to politics, but what is new is Colombia elects for the first time a left-wing President. He got a margin of 3 per cent over his contender, there is a lot of expectation and enthusiasm about him coming to power.”

Gustavo Petro will take charge next month. He&nbsp;has been a member of the guerrilla movement that later transformed into a political party. Many of the Latin American countries have seen left-wing governments but Colombia remained the last bastion. Ambassador said that President-elect plans to even have an “open conversation with Venezuela and open the relations” with the neighbouring country, which will be a big breakthrough in the region.&nbsp;In 2019, Venezuela’s Maduro cut off diplomatic ties with Colombia.

WION: For the first time ever, your country will have a leftist govt under President-elect Gustavo Petro, if you can talk about the change in your country.

Mariana Pacheco Montes: It is the first time ever&nbsp;that most Colombians went out to vote, and first time ever Colombia elected a left-wing President, and the first time Colombia elects African-Colombian woman as vice-president. This is a proof of the strong democracy that we have in Colombia, the institutionality and the institutions themselves. We are in the midst of a transition to the new government&nbsp;that will take power on 7th&nbsp;August this year.

WION: How significant is this because we know historically FARC hasn't played a very positive role.

Mariana Pacheco Montes: First, President-elect&nbsp;Gustavo Petro&nbsp;demobilized the guerrilla army in the early 1990s, he is a&nbsp;well-known politician, and after that, he went into politics. This is the 3rd&nbsp;time he has gone as the presidential candidate, so he is not new to politics but what is new is Colombia elected for the first time a left-wing President. He got a margin of 3% over his contender, there is a lot of expectation and enthusiasm about him coming to power. He is receiving a country that despite the pandemic is very well managed. A country that is open and growing and has the largest economic growth last year at 10.8%. For this year, according to OECD, Colombia will grow at 6.8%, one of the highest rate in Latin America. The unemployment rate has also decreased and with pride, I have to say that women are leading the recovery of unemployment in Colombia. So, it’s going to be interesting, with a lot of expectations and a lot of enthusiasm in Colombia. 
&nbsp;

WION: How significant it has been for the region, given Colombia has been the last bastion or the country in the region that never had a left-wing govt. How does it also impact your ties with Venezuela?&nbsp;

Mariana Pacheco Montes:&nbsp;It’s not that the country is falling, it’s just the democratic transition from centre-right to the Left, as in many other countries. Wherever there is democracy, there are transitions, and that is what is going on in Colombia. President-elect has said that he will open a conversation with Venezuela and open relations. That is not to say we haven’t had open and fraternal relations with the Venezuelan people. We have received more than 2 million Venezuelans in Colombia and we have formalized or legalized their status in Colombia. So far 1.8 million Venezuelans are living formally in Colombia. It is what some academicians call the pink tide of Latin America where many of the countries are going towards the left.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

WION: The recently announced reconciliation report that has been announced is being hailed as a watershed moment in your country’s history. If you can explain to our viewers this report, and also the peace pact that saw Colombia being discussed at UNSC.

Mariana Pacheco Montes:&nbsp;Colombia signed a peace agreement in 2016 with&nbsp;FARC which became a political party and some of those members did not follow, did not demobilize and are still in illegality. With regards to members who have followed the demobilization process, there are more than 10,000 members of the former FARC and some of them are members of the senate, and members of the House of Representatives which is a big step and part of the peace accord signed in 2016. The peace accord has a process of 16 years that it has to follow, and the Colombian government called the UN for a verification mission so that every 6 months the minister of foreign affairs goes with the head of the implementation of the peace agreement and reports how the implementation of the peace agreement is going on. As such, since India is a member of the UNSC, it&nbsp;has also has been part of those reports in the last year and a half.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

WION: How do you see the relationship between India and Colombia going forward?

Mariana Pacheco Montes: Very good, I think we are in a very good stage of our bilateral relations and I am very proud as an ambassador that we have come across many bridges, not only in the economic, and cultural space. We are at Casa Colombia, the first cultural centre at the Colombian embassy, and we expanded Indian investment in Colombia. We had a high-level&nbsp;visit, with the Vice President, and Minister of foreign affairs in October, we had MOS MEA Lekhi going to Colombia, and we hope many more happen. Some great tech transfers and investments in pharma companies have happened in Colombia from India. Tech Mahindra, TCS, and Hero Motorcycles are expanding and doing well in Colombia. I see and am proud to be part to be working hand-in-hand in partnership and friendship which has been stronger than ever.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

WION: What is the cultural link between India and Colombia?

Mariana Pacheco Montes: Very much so, not only in music, art and everything. My son is with me here and he is studying Hindustani classical music and he has an Indo-Latino group which is very interesting. We are much alike. At Casa Colombia, we brought an Urban Colombian artist who is painting at Vasant Vihar metro station, so our ties are growing stronger and stronger.

Colombia’s Ambassador to India Mariana Pacheco Montes has said that her country electing a left-wing President Gustavo Petro is a show of “strong democracy”. Speaking to WION’s diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Ambassador Mariana explained, “This is the third time he has gone as a presidential candidate, so he’s not new to politics, but what is new is Colombia elects for the first time a left-wing President.

Colombia’s Ambassador to India Mariana Pacheco Montes has said that her country electing a left-wing President Gustavo Petro is a show of “strong democracy”. Speaking to WION’s diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Ambassador Mariana explained, “This is the third time he has gone as a presidential candidate, so he’s not new to politics, but what is new is Colombia elects for the first time a left-wing President. He got a margin of 3 per cent over his contender, there is a lot of expectation and enthusiasm about him coming to power.” Gustavo Petro will take charge next month. He has been a member of the guerrilla movement that later transformed into a political party. Many of the Latin American countries have seen left-wing governments but Colombia remained the last bastion. Ambassador said that President-elect plans to even have an “open conversation with Venezuela and open the relations” with the neighbouring country, which will be a big breakthrough in the region. In 2019, Venezuela’s Maduro cut off diplomatic ties with Colombia. WION: For the first time ever, your country will have a leftist govt under President-elect Gustavo Petro, if you can talk about the change in your country. Mariana Pacheco Montes: It is the first time ever that most Colombians went out to vote, and first time ever Colombia elected a left-wing President, and the first time Colombia elects African-Colombian woman as vice-president. This is a proof of the strong democracy that we have in Colombia, the institutionality and the institutions themselves. We are in the midst of a transition to the new government that will take power on 7th August this year. WION: How significant is this because we know historically FARC hasn't played a very positive role. Mariana Pacheco Montes: First, President-elect Gustavo Petro demobilized the guerrilla army in the early 1990s, he is a well-known politician, and after that, he went into politics. This is the 3rd time he has gone as the presidential candidate, so he is not new to politics but what is new is Colombia elected for the first time a left-wing President. He got a margin of 3% over his contender, there is a lot of expectation and enthusiasm about him coming to power. He is receiving a country that despite the pandemic is very well managed. A country that is open and growing and has the largest economic growth last year at 10.8%. For this year, according to OECD, Colombia will grow at 6.8%, one of the highest rate in Latin America. The unemployment rate has also decreased and with pride, I have to say that women are leading the recovery of unemployment in Colombia. So, it’s going to be interesting, with a lot of expectations and a lot of enthusiasm in Colombia. WION: How significant it has been for the region, given Colombia has been the last bastion or the country in the region that never had a left-wing govt. How does it also impact your ties with Venezuela? Mariana Pacheco Montes: It’s not that the country is falling, it’s just the democratic transition from centre-right to the Left, as in many other countries. Wherever there is democracy, there are transitions, and that is what is going on in Colombia. President-elect has said that he will open a conversation with Venezuela and open relations. That is not to say we haven’t had open and fraternal relations with the Venezuelan people. We have received more than 2 million Venezuelans in Colombia and we have formalized or legalized their status in Colombia. So far 1.8 million Venezuelans are living formally in Colombia. It is what some academicians call the pink tide of Latin America where many of the countries are going towards the left. WION: The recently announced reconciliation report that has been announced is being hailed as a watershed moment in your country’s history. If you can explain to our viewers this report, and also the peace pact that saw Colombia being discussed at UNSC. Mariana Pacheco Montes: Colombia signed a peace agreement in 2016 with FARC which became a political party and some of those members did not follow, did not demobilize and are still in illegality. With regards to members who have followed the demobilization process, there are more than 10,000 members of the former FARC and some of them are members of the senate, and members of the House of Representatives which is a big step and part of the peace accord signed in 2016. The peace accord has a process of 16 years that it has to follow, and the Colombian government called the UN for a verification mission so that every 6 months the minister of foreign affairs goes with the head of the implementation of the peace agreement and reports how the implementation of the peace agreement is going on. As such, since India is a member of the UNSC, it has also has been part of those reports in the last year and a half. WION: How do you see the relationship between India and Colombia going forward? Mariana Pacheco Montes: Very good, I think we are in a very good stage of our bilateral relations and I am very proud as an ambassador that we have come across many bridges, not only in the economic, and cultural space. We are at Casa Colombia, the first cultural centre at the Colombian embassy, and we expanded Indian investment in Colombia. We had a high-level visit, with the Vice President, and Minister of foreign affairs in October, we had MOS MEA Lekhi going to Colombia, and we hope many more happen. Some great tech transfers and investments in pharma companies have happened in Colombia from India. Tech Mahindra, TCS, and Hero Motorcycles are expanding and doing well in Colombia. I see and am proud to be part to be working hand-in-hand in partnership and friendship which has been stronger than ever. WION: What is the cultural link between India and Colombia? Mariana Pacheco Montes: Very much so, not only in music, art and everything. My son is with me here and he is studying Hindustani classical music and he has an Indo-Latino group which is very interesting. We are much alike. At Casa Colombia, we brought an Urban Colombian artist who is painting at Vasant Vihar metro station, so our ties are growing stronger and stronger.

As Colombia gets its first left-wing President, envoy Mariana says it’s a proof of strong democracy

Left coalition leader Gustavo Petro secured the nomination of the left-wing Historic Pact coalition during voting in primaries. In the Historic Pact primary, Petro won more than 80% - some 3.5 million votes - with around 80% of precincts reporting. Gutierrez won more than 54% - some 1.7 million ballots - in the primary for a coalition representing a sector of Colombia's right-wing, with about 80% counted.

Can Gustavo Petro break the jinx ? Leftist candidate emerges most popular

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As Colombia gets its first left-wing President, envoy Mariana says it’s a proof of strong democracy

Can Gustavo Petro break the jinx ? Leftist candidate emerges most popular