MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Winds are changing in Colombia: Petro the big loser in Sunday's governor and mayor elections

Petro's candidates failed to win mayor benches in any of the nation’s main cities and won governorships in only two small provinces along Colombia’s southern border.

Colombian president Gustavo Petro's allies lost by windfalls in municipal and provincial elections on Sunday, a clear sign of growing discontent with the left-leaning government and some of its promised reforms to the health system and labor bills.

The president candidates failed to win mayor benches in any of the nation’s main cities and won governorships in only two small provinces along Colombia’s southern border.

Governorships were won mostly by candidates from traditional parties on the center and the right, which were beaten by Petro in last year’s presidential election and lost to independent candidates in the last regional elections four years ago.

“This sends a message to some lawmakers who were perhaps on the fence about returning to the government, that it’s not going to be in their electoral interests” to support Petro’s proposals, said Will Freeman a fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “The winds are changing in Colombia.”

However other analysts believe Petro has sufficient leverage to get his social and economic changes through congress. Pedro Medellin, a political analyst in Bogota, said Petro could with hold funds earmarked for cash-strapped municipal and provincial governments to pressure governors into guaranteeing their parties' congressional members vote for his proposals.

“Colombia is a very centralized nation, where the president has monumental powers” Medellin said.

Petro won the presidential election after campaigning to make far-reaching economic and social changes that would give the government a greater role in the provision of services like health care, education and public transport, which triggered protests under previous traditional governments.

Once in office, he pushed through measures to raise income taxes and cut tax breaks for businesses, and he has arranged ceasefires with rebel groups that did not join a 2016 peace deal between Colombia’s government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels.

But his economic overhaul has mostly stalled in the congress, where Petro’s coalition fell apart earlier this year amid differences over what changes are needed.

Meanwhile, a lack of security continues to afflict rural parts of Colombia. Kidnappings for ransom and extortion of local businesses have increased despite efforts by the government to reach ceasefires with groups like the National Liberation Army.

“Despite wins at the (negotiation) table, the actual day-to-day lives of people in these areas has not improved,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, a Colombia expert at the International Crisis Group. “The perception is that security has gotten worse.”

Colombians received a painful reminder of the security woes on Sunday, as gunmen kidnapped the parents of national soccer star Luis Diaz in the northern province of La Guajira. His mother was quickly rescued by police but his father is still missing.

In Bogotá, Petro’s candidate finished in third place, with just 18% of the votes. Carlos Fernando Galan, a centrist, was elected mayor with 49%.

The leftist president has struggled to build a party that reaches beyond his personal appeal to voters and provides a “lasting” alternative to conservative parties.

In Cali, a city that spearheaded large protests against inequality in 2021 and voted heavily for Petro in last year’s presidential election, his Historical Pact’s candidate only got 10% of the vote in the mayoral race. Alejandro Eder, a center-right businessman linked to the region’s sugar cane industry, won with 40%.