Gustavo Petro

Who is Gustavo Petro?

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego, was a member of the militant guerrilla group 19th of April Movement, which later evolved into the Alianza Democrática M-19, a political party in which Petro also participated. Years later he would become the presidential candidate for the Alternative Democratic Pole in the 2010 Colombian election, but lost coming fourth after the now President Juan Manuel Santos, Antanas Mockus and German Vargas Lleras respectively. In 2011 Petro, running for his Movimiento Progresistas, won the elections for Mayor of Bogotá, the second most important position in Colombian executive power, garnering 32% of the vote and defeating former mayor Enrique Peñalosa, Gina Parody, and Carlos Fernando Galán.

During his administration as Mayor, his reputation has been questioned and he is facing a recall process started by opposition parties and supported by the signatures of more than 600.000 citizens. After the legal verification 357.250 signatures were validated, many more than legally required to start the process. On December 9, 2013, Petro was removed from his seat and banned from political activity for 15 years, by Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado, following the sanctions estipulated by the law. His sanction was allegedly caused by mismanagement and illegal decrees signed during the implementation of his waste collection system. This has led to a series of protests by some of his followers, who deemed the Inspector's move as controversial, politically biased and un-democratic.