This is how Colombian President Gustavo Petro found his space in Washington

Bogota, Colombia () — A timeless rule in hospitality is that awkward conversations should be avoided at all costs, at least until it’s time for dessert. You don’t want your guests to have a bad taste in their mouths before serving dinner.

The same rule could well apply in politics, as leaders often focus first on “common ground” with their counterparts rather than taking a confrontational stance head-to-head.

Last week, when US President Joe Biden hosted his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, a left-wing ex-guerrilla and frequent critic of US international engagement, at the White House, the two men did exactly that, promoting their commonalities and disguising the differences.

The meeting came as a series of diplomatic visits shed light on Latin America as a strategic region, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov touring Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, and as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Parliament in Mexico, asking for support.

In regional heavyweight Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, meanwhile, has been pushing a coalition of non-aligned nations to resolve the Ukraine crisis and courting Beijing as an economic partner.

So what was the strongest common ground that President Biden, as a host, could find for his guest? Climate change.

United States President Joe Biden met with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in the Oval Office of the White House on April 20, 2023. (Credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The most significant message from Washington during Petro’s visit was not directed at Petro, but at the entire Latin American region, with the Biden administration pledging up to $500 million, pending congressional approval, to an international conservation fund. of the Amazon established by Brazil in 2008 and which had failed to attract much interest, let alone donations, in recent years.

The Amazon rainforest spans nine countries in South America, so the fund’s impact truly has a regional dimension. And Biden’s commitment is ten times greater than what the US promised just two months ago, when it was Lula’s turn in the Oval Office.

The announcement indicates that the Biden administration is listening carefully to the messages coming from Latin America, where the fight against climate change has long been a priority for governments on the left and right. The region’s leaders tend to see the climate issue as their platform at international summits.

Petro uses a ‘pendulum’ strategy

Timed to coincide with Petro’s visit, the funding promise also hints that the Colombian leader has found his opportunity in the ongoing competition between the world’s superpowers.

Like many Latin American countries, Colombia has received considerable investment from Chinese companies in recent years, mainly in the transportation and mining sectors. A Chinese consortium will build the metro system in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, one of the most strategic infrastructure projects in the country over the next two decades.

In January, a note from the Russian ambassador to Colombia praised Petro’s decision not to send Colombian-owned Russian-made weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces, a position similar to that of other countries in the region such as Argentina, Brazil and Peru, who has resisted joining the coalition of Western powers in support of Ukraine.

“Petro understood that he can develop a ‘pendulum’ strategy, swinging from one side to the other at the same time,” said Vicente Torrijos, a professor of international studies at Colombia’s Superior War College.

“For Colombia to be able, without losing the benefits of being a NATO strategic ally, to interact with Moscow and Beijing, is a very pragmatic view of international geopolitics,” Torrijos told .

Last Thursday, Petro also urged Biden to launch “a new Alliance for Progress” to promote economic development through cleaner energy in the Americas, invoking the 1960s program led by former US President John F. Kennedy.

Becoming a voice for climate action internationally would align with Petro’s personal ambitions.

“Petro has the aspiration to lead the new stage of Latin American geopolitics. Speaking of generations, [el presidente de México, Andrés Manuel] López Obrador is leaving, Lula already had his moment, and on the other hand [el presidente de Chile, Gabriel] Boric is very young, very immature… so Petro sees that there is a gap in the leadership of the progressive front of the Americas and he aspires to fill it,” Torrijos told .

And Biden can also boast a considerable concession from his meeting with Petro, who has always refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine, until now.

The joint statement signed by both leaders last week “condemned all forms of authoritarianism and aggression in the world, including Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity contrary to international law,” a considerable shift in rhetoric of speech. Petro’s usual.

“Both leaders are showing some real pragmatism, and Petro knows he can be pragmatic when he wants to,” said Sergio Guzmán, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a Bogotá-based political consultancy.

“Petro has shown that he wants to be an international leader and represent Latin America in these big contexts, and the Biden administration was ready to recognize him as such. In that sense, condemning the war against Ukraine was not a very high price to pay,” Guzmán told .