Colombia election: Petro's experiment faces a right-wing challenge

Bogotá – Gustavo Petro's ascent to power in Colombia was marked by a promise to fundamentally transform key areas of national life, including health, economy, security, and education. Four years later, his administration, the country's first leftist government, presents a more ambiguous legacy. While it succeeded in introducing new topics into the public agenda and altering the discourse, profound transformations largely failed to materialize. In many instances, the government's actions conflicted with its own rhetoric, leading to tangible costs for Colombians' well-being.

Colombians are now heading to the polls to choose between two opposing national models. The continuation of Petro's agenda is represented by officialist candidate Iván Cepeda, who leads the latest polls with 33.4%. The alternative is a right-wing shift, championed by candidates like Paloma Valencia or Abelardo de la Espriella, who trails Cepeda with 30.9%. Both opposition candidates also pledge societal restructuring, albeit from vastly different ideological standpoints and employing distinct methods.

Structural problems, particularly in healthcare, are a major point of contention. "With Petro, health in Colombia is worse than ever. It can't take any more. The government only removes people from above and puts its own in. It was much better before," said Guillermo Barrios, a 68-year-old man interviewed outside the Clínica Nueva El Lago. His sentiment reflects widespread frustration with the healthcare system's perceived decline.

The Petro government has intervened in the management of several health entities, including Nueva EPS, the country's largest health provider. Originally a mixed public-private company, Nueva EPS has been majority state-owned since 2025 and is currently under government intervention. The stated justification for these interventions, affecting entities serving approximately 20 million affiliates, is that they were deficitary or mismanaged public funds. However, patients report a deterioration in services since the state took over, with difficulties in obtaining appointments and shortages of medical supplies and medicines. This situation is compounded by insufficient public spending allocated to the sector, a point of agreement among professional associations, analysts, and the Colombian Constitutional Court.