Colombia elects Gustavo Petro: Rapid Response Briefing on Economy, Energy and International Relations
Friday, June 24 2022 | 
8am PDT / 10 am CDT
On Sunday, June 19, Gustavo Petro claimed a significant victory in second-round presidential voting in Colombia. With over 50% of voters favoring the senator and former mayor and a quick concession by opposition candidate Rodolfo Hernandez, Petro heads toward his August 7 inauguration with a mandate for his four-year term.
But as always, the transition from opposition figure and candidate to president begs many questions. The need to pivot and translate campaign rhetoric to concrete policy platforms will be critical. Debate is already swirling around cabinet nominations, management of the oil sector and particularly National Oil Company Ecopetrol, but also international relations, most notably with Venezuela and the United States.
To address many of the immediate challenges the Petro administration faces, but also to understand how he may seek to transition from candidate offering campaign and stump speech to policymaker and president, we are pleased to host a virtual panel discussion with two Colombia experts: Roger Tissot, a native of Cali and Non-Resident Fellow at the Institute of the Americas and John Padilla, a long-time resident in Colombia and Managing Director at IPD Latin America.