Colombia’s Foreign Policy Discourses under Gustavo Petro: The Formulation of a New National Role with a Progressive Populist Approach

In the context of significant internal changes in Colombia, the question arises of what Gustavo Petro's rise to power means for Colombia's foreign policy. Although Petro has only been in office for a little over a year (2022–2023), a preliminary investigation is proposed here with the following elements: a) an analytical framework of populism and its effects on foreign policy, b) a review of Petro's role conceptions, priorities and expectations in foreign policy as discursive aspects of its formulation, and c) an examination of some examples of these populist elements in the speeches or presidential positions of Petro's foreign policy. The methodology is essentially qualitative and interpretive, supported by discourse analysis. Petro has sought a more pluralistic approach to ideological progressivism than his predecessors , but his populist leadership tone has in some respects fostered an anti-elitist, anti-technical, and conflictual attitude in foreign relations. In Colombia, it is seen that the elements of progressivism as a thick ideological base, along with democratic institutions and counterweights, can contribute to mitigating the authoritarian personalism of the populist leader, but they do not completely dissipate it.