Latin America Advisor

Andrés Martínez-Fernández, Senior Analyst for Latin America at FrontierView: “President-elect Gustavo Petro represents a departure from many of Colombia’s previous policies, and that includes foreign policy, even as domestic issues will remain at the core of his administration’s focus. Climate change and an accelerated transition away from fossil fuels are major foreign policy priorities for Colombia’s next president. Indeed, Petro has stated his intention to build a regional alliance to confront this challenge. However, amid a global energy crunch, President Petro is likely to find little appetite for substantive action on this front, even from leftist governments in Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil, if this year’s election returns Lula da Silva to office. Much of the U.S.-Colombia relationship, including trade, is ingrained in both nations’ laws and institutions, and is therefore not easily upended by any one president. Petro’s desire to shift the nature of U.S.-Colombia…”