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BREAKING
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Colombia's first-ever leftist President sworn in

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 7 Aug 2022 08:59
  • 2 Shares
2 Min Read

Former mayor Gustavo Petro will be sworn in Sunday as #Colombia's first-ever leftist President.

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  • Colombia's first-ever leftist president sworn in.
    Colombia's first-ever leftist President to be sworn in.

Former mayor, Gustavo Petro, will be inaugurated in as Colombia's first leftist President on Sunday, with plans for major reforms in a country plagued by economic disparity and drug violence.

The former senator succeeds Ivan Duque for a four-year term that will be supported by a left-leaning majority in Congress.

Colombia, long dominated by a conservative elite, has entered an increasing left-wing fold in Latin America, which might be sealed in October with a likely victory for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil.

At a ceremony in Bogota on the eve of his inauguration, Petro vowed his government would aim to "bring to Colombia what it has not had for centuries, which is tranquility and peace."

"Here begins a government that will fight for environmental justice," he added.

Read next: Venezuela congratulates Colombia on Petro's election win

Petro campaigned on raising taxes on the wealthy, investing in health care and education, and reforming the police after a deadly crackdown on anti-inequality rallies last year that was widely denounced abroad. 

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He has promised to halt oil extraction, boost clean energy, and reopen diplomatic and business contacts with Venezuela's government, which has been suspended since 2019.

Petro starts from an "enviable position, with a large majority in Congress and, in terms of the street, with support that no government had in recent years," Cerac analyst Jorge Restrepo told AFP.

"As of today, #Colombia is changing."
Who is #GustavoPetro, Colombia's first leftist president? pic.twitter.com/3uEf78im2I

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 20, 2022

'Debt burden'

Petro's presidency will also be historic in another way: he will be accompanied by the country's first Afro-Colombian woman vice president, environmental and women's rights campaigner Francia Marquez, 40.

The couple will have to deal with an economy still reeling from the coronavirus outbreak, an increase in violence, and deep-seated resentment of the political elite, which culminated in last year's riots.

Almost 40% of Colombia's 50 million inhabitants are poor, and 11.7% are unemployed. Inflation reached 10.2% year on year in July.

Petro's preparatory commission stated on Monday that he would inherit "a level of indebtedness and fiscal deficit that... is critical."

It is worth noting that Colombian presidents serve only one term.

  • Colombia
  • Gustavo Petro

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