Bogota, Colombia –Gustavo PetroA former member of a left-wing guerrilla who fought against the Colombian state was inaugurated as president on Sunday, a change from a country with a history of guerrilla warfare that stifled its modernization and polarized its people.
Mr. Petro, 62, stood before tens of thousands of supporters in the square of Bogota’s colonial center, promising he would work to reduce poverty and hunger in the country of 50 million people and secure peace by negotiating with several armed groups . He also built a platform to redistribute wealth, modernize impoverished rural areas and adopt green economic policies.
