Colombia’s Future Doesn’t Belong to Coca, Communism, or Caudillos
- Rick de la Torre
- Jul 24
- 3 min read
The Petro experiment is over. What began as a messianic crusade to “transform” Colombia has collapsed under the weight of its own delusions. A presidency once cloaked in promises of justice and peace now reeks of dysfunction, narco-politics, and authoritarian drift. And the numbers don’t lie—violence is up, the guerrillas are thriving, and the public has had enough.
Since Petro took office, illegal armed groups have grown by nearly 45%, ballooning to over 22,000 fighters. ELN, dissident FARC, Clan del Golfo—they’re not demobilizing. They’re recruiting, expanding, and killing with impunity. January 2025 marked the deadliest month of Petro’s entire presidency. In Catatumbo alone, over 100 people have died in factional clashes. Tens of thousands have been displaced. Bombings are back in Bogotá and Cali. This is not peace. It’s surrender.
Petro’s “Total Peace” policy—which translates roughly to “no arrests, no extraditions, no consequences”—has turned Colombia into an incubator for narco-paramilitary governance. Ceasefires aren’t peace agreements. They’re breathing room for terrorists.
Meanwhile, the president plays fast and loose with the Constitution. In June, he attempted to bypass Congress entirely, issuing Decree 639 to ram through his stalled agenda via a national vote. Never mind that the Constitution prohibits such unilateral actions—Petro simply declared the Senate’s rejection “spurious” and pressed on. Because in his view, he is the Constitution.
This is Carl Schmitt with a Colombian accent. The president now claims the right to ignore institutional checks and interpret “the will of the people” as he sees fit. Political opponents are labeled Nazis and mafiosos. Protesters are branded as “victimarios.” The judiciary has had to repeatedly intervene just to remind Petro that Colombia is not yet a dictatorship. Yet.
And what has he delivered? Aside from rhetoric and repression? Not much. His government has failed to build a single major infrastructure project. Foreign investment is tepid. Relations with Washington have cratered. A House committee recently flagged drug use “reaching the highest levels” of his administration, prompting new restrictions on U.S. aid. One of Petro’s foreign policy stunts even threatened to tear up a Glencore coal export contract—because it served Israel.
This is what happens when a former guerrilla ideologue stumbles into executive power and starts mistaking Marxist slogans for governing doctrine. He surrounds himself with loyalists, lashes out at allies, and steers the nation by feel. If it weren’t so dangerous, it would be pathetic.
Colombia deserves better.
No one’s casting votes yet, but look at Colombians like Juan Carlos Pinzón and you remember what competence used to look like. As a former defense minister and ambassador to the United States, he’s consistently shown what it means to lead with discipline, strategic clarity, and respect for institutions.
Pinzón built real alliances abroad. Strengthened the military at home. He didn’t negotiate with cartels—he confronted them. He didn’t attack Congress—he worked through it. And he never treated the Constitution as an inconvenience.
He’s not a savior, and this isn’t a coronation. But when you measure the contrast between Petro’s improvisational chaos and Pinzón’s record of competent statecraft, the difference is hard to ignore. He stands as a model of the seriousness, restraint, and accountability that Colombia’s political class so desperately lacks.
We don’t need more ideologues. We need adults in the room.
Petro’s revolution has failed. It’s time for the country to remember what real leadership looks like—and start demanding it again.