Tuesday will mark six months since that next sunny August afternoon when gustavo petro assumed the Presidency of the Republic. Since then, Colombians have watched the future of someone who embodies a break with the past, both in style and substance.
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With regard to the way of exercising the first position of the nation, the emphasis on speeches with a high ideological content and a good dose of symbolism stands out, together with an evident lack of interest in management. Although sometimes reality forces him to put his feet on the ground, the president likes to «throw the line» more than closely supervise a subordinate, or give precise instructions to a team forced to interpret what their boss said, either in a public act or in a Twitter trill.
When you are in the field of ideas or dialectic, everything else is secondary. This includes punctuality or protocol, which is grudgingly followed or sometimes simply ignored. In contrast to the previous tenants of the Casa de Nariño, who made an effort to work 18-hour days so that the citizens would recognize their effort, the one now appears a lot in the regions, but avoids the spotlight in Bogotá, giving rise to everything type of rumors and lucubrations.
However, what is truly important is what happens with the underlying issues. Announcements and decisions that imply fundamental breaks with the current schemes still surprise more than one. The reactions are more notorious these days in which the President confirmed that he wants to do things faster.
His defenders maintain that the president has done nothing more than develop the proposals contained in the document ‘Colombia, world power of life’signed by the presidential formula of the Historical Pact in March 2022. From this point of view, one can be against Petro’s proposals, but one cannot accuse him of a lack of coherence between what he promises and what he seeks to do.
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stage race
That is where the great package of social reforms that is being drafted comes from and includes health, pensions and labor regulations, in addition to the articles that are inserted in the law that will host the Development plan. As has become clear in the case of the first, the intention is to move forward regardless of the objections made by the moderate wing of the cabinet or the warnings about the doubts that exist in Congress regarding initiatives such as ending the EPS.
Go to the street, through the mobilizations called on February 14, is the response of an activist President with little interest in negotiating with his opponents. Confident in the strength that opinion gives him and the ability to impose his legislative majorities, Petro wishes to continue with his original agenda, endorsed by popular mandate in the elections last June.
Faced with a dogmatic president who launches proposals of various kinds throughout the same week, the business community finds itself relegated to a reactive position.
Raising the ante by trying to win various battles that cause controversy — and that go as far as to break the Bogotá Mayor’s Office so that the capital’s metro has an underground part — is something that is not without risk. The main one is that the Historical Pact fails to control the municipal palaces of the four main capitals in the elections next October.
That verdict, or a broad expression of popular discontent, may eventually alter the current terrain. However, unless the political facts indicate otherwise, the intention of the Government does not deviate from the drawn line.
Given this perspective, the warning lights that reveal the private sector shine with great intensity. Whether in informal meetings, boards of directors or union spaces, the debates revolve around getting comfortable with an Executive who is a supporter of State capitalism and even takes a dim view of the spirit of relating and business success.
Things are complicated by the weakness of the opposition. Other than a few voices that the public associates with the right, there are no leaders to truly counterbalance, let alone embarrass the present administration. In the media there are more dissenting opinions, but the criticisms are quickly labeled as the expression of that same establishment that resists change.
Faced with a dogmatic president who launches proposals of various kinds throughout the same week, the business community finds itself relegated to a reactive position. As the analyst Leonardo García points out, «the analogy is that of a tennis match in which the President always has the service and therefore starts with an advantage to ensure a result in his favor.»
the dilemmas
As if the above were not enough, any reflection or warning regarding the potential danger of official initiatives is characterized as support for the status quo. Therefore, it ends up being considered a frontal attack associating with a reactionary position that seeks to perpetuate inequality and the privileges of a few, something that social networks and well-known wineries are in charge of magnifying.
Graduating as a contradictor is not without risks. The heads of several guild leaders whose members felt they would do better if they did not antagonize the Minister in office have already rolled. Fighting against a government that is capable of attacking leads many to believe that it is better to take refuge in the mockery.
However, retreating is not a good option either. Even if the stubbornness of officials is the norm, it is inevitable to contest strategies that are dangerous for a sector or for the economy in general. The obvious example is the intention not to sign more hydrocarbon exploration contracts, something that could lead the country to lose its energy self-sufficiency and cause fiscal or exchange trauma, not to mention impacts on employment and regional finances.
How to react then? For the president of the Andi, Bruce MacMaster, who was in the eye of the hurricane during the tax reform discussion, «this requires a lot of strategy, a balanced position of firmness, flexibility and definitely convictions.»
You do well when you come to these streets to show Colombia that it is possible for us to meet, the bourgeoisie and the popular world.
Keeping the channels of dialogue open is key, although it is not always possible. depending on the ministerial portfolio, some are more successful than others in being able to speak with lower level officials. Even so, in the cases of Health and Mining, the glass bell looks impregnable, with which there is no choice but to speak from the outside.
Those who know about these things advise not to go into a defensive mode but a propositional one, as Fedegan did when proposing the sale of land as a way to achieve the objective of redistributing rural property. Overnight, the union that seemed to be the one with the hardest line against the administration, achieved an understanding of great importance.
Regarding reforms that are coming, the challenge of the private sector is to respond with alternative texts that clearly propose a better way to achieve the social goals proposed by the Government. Faced with approaches that start from ideology, it is worth going along the lines of pragmatism and moving in different scenarios, something that includes well-thought-out communication strategies so that the only narrative that reaches people is not the one that drives the Narino Palace.
Taking the initiative involves leaving your comfort zone and understanding that the majority of Colombians do not want more of the same, or for things to stay the same. But, just as it is important to connect with the hope of change, businessmen need to demonstrate that they are part of the solution to the country’s challenges and not the problem.
hay
In this regard, it is worth highlighting an experience that should be a model in as many departments and cities as possible. Is about Commitment Valley, an effort that came from before and was consolidated after the national strike in mid-2021, and that by the end of 2022 had benefited some 40,000 people in vulnerable situations. In the group there are many members of the «front line» and gang members, as well as belonging to the so-called «ninis» group, who neither study nor work.
The tool, financed by 170 companies, foundations and international cooperation programs that articulates more than 400 organizations, and has invested some 62,000 million pesos, includes six axes whose goal is to build opportunities. “We are changing paradigms, making many vulnerable young people have a different vision of businessmen and that they also relate differently to the communities,” says María Isabel Ulloa, from Propacífico.
«There were many stigmas on one side and on the other that have disappeared,» adds Christine Armitage linked to the Sidoc Foundation. He says that through a method that he began to apply in the middle of the last decade, they have accompanied 4,255 young people in Cali and six other Valle del Cauca municipalities in the last 18 months, of which more than 400 already have formal employment.
During an act that took place in La Arboleda park in the Aguablanca district of Cali at the end of January, Gustavo Petro himself highlighted what had been done. Far from the combative tone that he sometimes uses, he thanked the businessmen and told them that “you do well when you come to these streets to show Colombia that it is possible for us to meet, the bourgeoisie and the popular world. Sure, because this is our country and we can build it together.»
It is important to prevent each side from becoming entrenched, so that cooperation is an alternative to confrontation.
What happened shows that there is room to find common ground in many places, especially if the private sector dares to manage a relationship that needs to go far beyond individual or sectoral interests. That is not opposed to the freedom to express an opinion, something that should include support for think tanks and universities so that they intervene more in the debates on government proposals.
Ultimately it is important to prevent each side from becoming entrenched, so that cooperation is an alternative to confrontation. Sooner or later the image of gustavo petro it will begin to wear out when the public finds that there is a great distance between the speech and the achievements, especially in an administration whose ability to execute well depends on seeing.
When on the defensive, an isolated president may be tempted to radicalize and appeal to «he did not abandon me» as a defense against the results of his administration. Although the scenario may seem tempting to many, the risks of a break will be greater than that of having built bridges in time and being able to reach a few consensus solutions. In the end, the point is to reduce polarization, because otherwise the country will continue to tumble between extremes for many years to come.
Faced with this eventuality, Bruce MacMaster proposes that “we must garrison ourselves around democracy and the general well-being, At the same time, it must be insisted that the elections are the exercise of choosing who should lead us to achieve the great goals of our society together, in contrast to the exercise of power to impose the ideas of a part of the opinion”. He also insists that «the basis of the relationship with the Government cannot be uncertainty, but rather the conviction that the best collective business is a better country for everyone.»
This forces a different attitude to be adopted, which begins by thinking with a cool head and knowing how to act on time. «Entrepreneurs must also have the service and take advantage of it, attack the net, look for winning shots, ask the public to cheer them on», emphasizes Leonardo García.
«Very rarely does the one who has control of the game and the attitude of winning fail to do so,» he concludes. It remains to be seen if he private sector He is encouraged to try a new style of play, to get out of a difficult match on that field called Colombia.
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RICARDO AVILA
Special for EL TIEMPO
@ravilapinto
