Petro calls for strikes in address before power handover

Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro used his final public address on Monday, July 20, to call for mass mobilization against his successor's agenda, escalating political tensions ahead of the August 7 transfer of power. Speaking to thousands of supporters in Bogotá on Colombia's Independence Day, Petro urged unions and social movements to organize strikes if the incoming government of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella attempts to roll back key labor and land reforms enacted during his term.

Petro, a leftist leader, declared that opposition to the new administration must be exercised in the streets, peacefully but forcefully. He specifically warned that a repeal of last year's labor reform, which increased overtime pay and restricted short-term contracts, would trigger a general and indefinite strike. He issued a similar warning regarding land-access policies, threatening a national agrarian strike. These calls for civil disobedience come amid a bitter dispute over the legitimacy of the June 21 presidential election, which de la Espriella won by a narrow margin of fewer than 300,000 votes.

Petro has repeatedly alleged the election was marred by fraud orchestrated...