The best result for progressivism in Colombian history
En la historia política de Colombia, donde la derecha ha gobernado durante generaciones, una coalición de siete partidos de izquierda emergió en 2021 con la ambición de reescribir ese orden. Encabezada por Gustavo Petro, el Pacto Histórico obtuvo en 2022 el resultado electoral más sólido que la izquierda colombiana haya logrado jamás, llevando a su candidato a una segunda vuelta con el 40,3 por ciento de los votos. Es un momento que invita a preguntarse si las sociedades, cuando acumulan suficiente hartazgo, son capaces de imaginar un futuro distinto al que heredaron.
- Siete partidos de izquierda, históricamente divididos, sellaron un pacto inédito que desafió décadas de hegemonía conservadora en Colombia.
- Petro arrasó en la consulta interna con el 80 por ciento de los votos y luego conquistó 8,5 millones de sufragios en primera vuelta, cifras sin precedente para la izquierda colombiana.
- El éxito trajo consigo tensiones internas: organizaciones feministas denunciaron exclusión, y la incorporación de políticos con antecedentes cuestionables generó acusaciones de oportunismo ideológico.
- El Pacto enfrenta el reto estructural de gobernar con una plataforma transformadora —paz, reforma agraria, salud, educación— pero con una minoría de escaños en un Congreso fragmentado.
- La segunda vuelta contra Rodolfo Hernández se perfila como el momento decisivo: ganarla significaría no solo un cambio de gobierno, sino una ruptura con el orden político que ha definido a Colombia por décadas.
Una mañana de febrero de 2021, la actriz colombiana Margarita Rosa de Francisco leyó en voz alta un manifiesto que formalizaba lo que pocos meses antes parecía improbable: siete partidos de izquierda y socialdemocracia uniéndose bajo un mismo nombre, el Pacto Histórico. Su propósito declarado era terminar con décadas de gobierno de derecha en Colombia, convocando a organizaciones sociales, comunidades afrocolombianas, movimientos campesinos y jóvenes a construir una alternativa real.
El primer examen llegó el 13 de marzo de 2022, cuando el Pacto se midió en elecciones legislativas y en una consulta presidencial interna. Gustavo Petro, senador del movimiento Colombia Humana, dominó la primaria con el 80,5 por ciento de los votos. En las legislativas, la coalición se convirtió en la fuerza más votada para el Congreso, superando a los partidos Conservador y Liberal que habían gobernado el país por generaciones, y obteniendo 20 escaños en el Senado y 31 en la Cámara.
Semanas después, en la primera vuelta presidencial, Petro alcanzó 8,53 millones de votos —el 40,3 por ciento del electorado—, el resultado más alto que la izquierda colombiana haya obtenido en unas elecciones presidenciales. Avanzó a segunda vuelta frente a Rodolfo Hernández, candidato independiente anticorrupción con el 28,15 por ciento.
Pero el éxito no llegó sin fricciones. Organizaciones feministas habían denunciado su exclusión de los espacios de liderazgo; Petro respondió nombrando a Francia Márquez como su fórmula vicepresidencial. La incorporación de figuras como Armando Benedetti y Roy Barreras —políticos que habían servido a gobiernos de distinto signo— generó cuestionamientos sobre la coherencia ideológica del Pacto. Las listas cerradas en las elecciones al Congreso también fueron criticadas por dejar a sobrevivientes de la violencia en posiciones sin posibilidad real de ser elegidos.
La plataforma del Pacto Histórico incluye la implementación de los acuerdos de paz con las FARC, una reforma agraria profunda, transformaciones en salud, educación y pensiones, la prohibición del fracking y un ingreso básico para las familias más pobres. Gobernar con esa agenda, sin embargo, exige primero ganar la segunda vuelta y luego negociar con un Congreso donde la coalición ocupa apenas una minoría de escaños.
On a February morning in 2021, the Colombian actress Margarita Rosa de Francisco stood before a gathering and read aloud a manifesto that would reshape the country's political landscape. The document, known as the 55/86 pact, formalized what had seemed unlikely just months before: seven separate left-wing and social democratic parties agreeing to move as one. They called themselves the Historic Pact, and their stated ambition was to end decades of right-wing governance in Colombia by winning the 2022 elections.
The coalition brought together Colombia Humana, the Union Patriotic-Communist Party, the Alternative Democratic Pole, the Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement, the Workers Party of Colombia, Democratic Unity, and We Are All Colombia. Their founding manifesto spoke in sweeping terms about returning power to ordinary citizens, delivering genuine political transformation, and ensuring that no Colombian would have advantage over another in education, employment, or the chance to breathe clean air and access healthcare. The call went out to social organizations, feminist groups, Afro-Colombian communities, peasant movements, and young people to join the effort.
When the Historic Pact first tested itself in legislative elections and internal presidential consultations on March 13, 2022, the results stunned observers accustomed to Colombia's traditional political order. In the internal presidential primary, Gustavo Petro, a senator from the Colombia Humana movement, dominated with 4.48 million votes—capturing 80.51 percent of the field. His nearest competitor, Francia Márquez from the Alternative Democratic Pole, received 783,160 votes. The internal contest drew nearly 5.6 million total participants, a turnout that signaled genuine enthusiasm within the coalition's base.
In the legislative races that same day, the Historic Pact secured 2.8 million votes, making it the most-voted political force in Congress elections—surpassing both the traditional Conservative and Liberal parties that had long dominated Colombian politics. The coalition won 20 Senate seats and 31 seats in the Chamber of Representatives. Petro declared afterward that the coalition had achieved "the best result for progressivism in Colombian history."
The presidential first round, held weeks later, confirmed the magnitude of the shift. Petro advanced with 8.53 million votes, representing 40.3 percent of the electorate. For a left-wing candidate in a country governed by the right for generations, the number was historic. He faced Rodolfo Hernández, an independent anti-corruption candidate who had secured 5.95 million votes and 28.15 percent, in a runoff that would determine Colombia's next president.
Yet success brought scrutiny. Critics pointed to the coalition's embrace of politicians with corruption allegations and those who had moved fluidly between opposing ideological camps—figures like Armando Benedetti and Roy Barreras, who had served multiple presidents across the spectrum. Petro responded by welcoming all who aligned with the Pact's principles. Feminist organizations had raised concerns in early 2022 about their exclusion from leadership, complaints Petro sought to address by naming Márquez as his vice-presidential running mate. The coalition also faced criticism for its closed electoral lists in congressional races, a system that had left some violence survivors in low-ranking positions where they would not be elected.
The Historic Pact's platform committed to implementing the peace accords negotiated in Havana with the FARC, overhauling agricultural policy, reforming labor and pension systems, transforming education and healthcare, protecting water resources and banning fracking, and establishing a basic income for the country's poorest families. These were the reforms the manifesto called "urgent changes delayed by the establishment." Whether Petro could deliver them would depend on winning the runoff and then governing a fractured Congress where his coalition held only a minority of seats.
Citas Notables
A historic pact among citizens who identify with progressive, social democratic, and truly liberal sectors, that returns power to the people and conducts genuine political transformation without artifice, delivering an era of peace we have never had.— The Historic Pact's founding manifesto, read by actress Margarita Rosa de Francisco in February 2021
The coalition achieved the best result for progressivism in Colombian history.— Gustavo Petro, after the March 13, 2022 legislative elections
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What made seven different left-wing parties decide to run together in 2022? They'd been separate for so long.
They recognized that splitting the progressive vote had cost them elections for decades. The right had governed Colombia almost continuously. Running separately meant losing to a divided opposition. The manifesto made it clear—this was about consolidating power to actually change things.
And Petro won the primary so decisively. Eighty percent. Why such a gap between him and Francia Márquez?
Petro had been a senator, had visibility, had run for president before. Márquez was newer to national politics, though she brought something Petro didn't—she was a Black woman from a region hit hard by violence and extraction. The coalition needed both of them, which is why she became his running mate.
The criticism about closed lists and controversial politicians—did that undermine the coalition's message about change?
It created a tension at the heart of the project. They were promising transformation, but they were also pragmatically including politicians who'd worked within the old system. Some saw that as necessary coalition-building. Others saw it as the same old politics dressed up differently.
What did winning 40 percent in a six-candidate race actually mean for Colombia?
It meant the left had never performed that strongly in a presidential election. But it also meant 60 percent of voters chose someone else. Petro had to win a runoff against Hernández, and he'd need to govern with only a minority in Congress. Historic doesn't mean dominant.