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Colombia will soon have presidential elections. Its stable democracy, despite nearly 62 non-consecutive years of political violence instigated primarily by left-wing subversive groups (1948-1958, 1964-2016), may be facing its biggest threat. Gustavo Petro, the front-runner in Colombia’s presidential race, is a wholly fabricated product of Castro-Communism. Petro is socialism’s Manchurian candidate.
Communism’s appetite in the Americas goes back to the founding of the Soviet Union. In Colombia, the most successful Marxist operation was the Bogotazo. At the 9th Pan-American Conference held on April 9, 1948, there was international communism’s first aggressive attempt of assaulting power in the South American country. The assassination of presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán triggered massive riots that sprung from Soviet-contrived disinformation. Among those present on that “Black Friday” were Cuban communists Fidel Castro and Rafael del Pino.
Communist Cuba became a Soviet-launching pad from the onset. In 1959, Castro-Communism begin a targeted subversive campaign of immersing itself in the affairs of every single country in the Americas. Of particular interest to the Castro regime were Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela. In the Colombian case, the three main Marxist terrorist organizations that were formed with Cuban assistance were the National Liberation Army (ELN) (1964), Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) (1964), and the 19th of April Movement (M-19) (1970s).
The ELN and M-19 were structurally formulated in Havana. As long as the Soviet subsidies poured into the island, violent revolutions were the norm. The fall of the USSR changed all that. No longer able to finance the costs of communist insurgencies, the acquisition of political power by armed aggression had to be reinvented. The Marxist regime in Havana sought new avenues to power for Latin America, at the São Paulo Forum (SPF) in 1990.
A new dictatorial model was contrived by Cuban tyrant Fidel Castro and his protégé, Lula de Silva. The SPF prototype dictated that power be acquired by making use of democracy. The rule was to compete in elections, subvert the democratic institutions after having won, and then deconstruct republican systems. Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Bolivia were initial success stories of the FSP model.
The deceased Cuban dictator put enormous pressure on all three Colombian communist guerrillas to adopt the new, post-Soviet socialist strategy designed in 1990. The M-19 was the first to abide by Castro’s instructions. Slowly, the ELN followed suit. The FARC proved more hesitant. The lucrative drug business, along with the lax policies of presidents César Gaviria, Ernesto Samper, and Andrés Pastrana, undoubtedly contributed to this. The 2002 ascendancy of Álvaro Uribe changed the dynamics. By waging war to defeat the FARC and pacify Colombia, Uribe achieved what he sought.
Gustavo Petro joined M-19 at the age of 17. Thoroughly trained as a terrorist, Petro quickly put into practice Castro’s plan. At the Cuban tyrant’s request, about 1990 Petro changed the guerrilla uniform for the disguise of a “democrat”. In 1991, Petro began his rise through different branches and positions in Colombian politics. Cleverly, masquerading as a social democrat, he remains a structured socialist.
Castroism’s journey, to institute the radical Marxist guerrillas into Colombian politics, officially began with a 1993 state visit by the Cuban despot to Colombia. By 2012, with the Colombian government’s military victory over the FARC subversives, the Castro regime, supported by Pope Francis’ Vatican, and the Obama administration, began a “peace” agreement scheme. Four years of negotiation sought to grant immunity from prosecution to the Colombian terrorist group for the war crimes and crimes against humanity that it had been committing since 1964. Understanding that a new administration in Bogotá, under the leadership of Juan Manuel Santos, stood a greater chance of securing such an agreement, it was put to the test of a popular referendum.
The “peace” agreement orchestrated by Cuban communism was rejected by the Colombian people on October 2, 2016. Notwithstanding the will and the principle of popular sovereignty, Santos overrode the Colombian people’s wish, “revised” the agreement and maneuvered through Congress to get its approval. The Castro regime’s plan to incorporate the FARC into the Colombian political landscape was finally achieved.
Petro has played the part in strict accordance with the Cuban dictatorship’s playbook. The former M-19 terrorist (Petro) has successfully masqueraded his candidacy as one of the “center-left”. The existence of FARC-supported politicians lends itself to this deceit. Havana has been the architect of all the riots which have plagued the Duque presidency. There is an incredible tactical similarity between the subversive activity prevalent in Colombian and Chilean cities (before Boric). The FSP dictatorial paradigm haunts Colombia. Petro is Havana’s man in the 2022 presidential election.
Julio M Shiling, political scientist, writer, director of Patria de Martí and The Cuban American Voice, lecturer and media commentator. A native of Cuba, he currently lives in the United States. Twitter: @JulioMShiling // Julio es politólogo, escritor, director de Patria de Martí y The Cuban American Voice. Conferenciante y comentarista en los medios. Natural de Cuba, vive actualmente en EE UU.