"In 2007, Gustavo Petro was visiting Washington, DC, when he made an unusual request: to accompany his host's friend on a school pickup run. At the time, Petro was a rising star in the Colombian Senate who was in the United States to receive the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award for exposing politicians' ties to paramilitary groups. His host was Sanho Tree, director of drug policy at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)."
"Such dangers were not new to Petro. He began his career being hunted by soldiers as an armed rebel with the M-19, an underground student movement that sought a fairer, more democratic Colombia. After laying down his rifle, he became a whistleblowing senator, holding hearings on the shadowy alliance between politicians and paramilitary groups that reached the highest echelons of power and earned him a price on his head from a paramilitary leader."
Gustavo Petro began as an M-19 urban rebel hunted by soldiers and later laid down arms to enter politics. As a senator he exposed links between politicians and paramilitary groups, held hearings on their shadowy alliances, and received the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award. He has faced assassination threats and avoided routine public activities because of security risks. Petro consistently advocated for peace, land reform and environmental policies for decades. In 2022 he was elected Colombia's first left-wing president with promises to pursue more equitable, eco-friendly national policies.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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