From Campaign Promise to Policy: Petro's 3-Year Journey Toward Regional Unity

Gustavo Petro didn't arrive at his Gran Colombia proposal overnight. His January 2026 confederation call was the culmination of a three-year journey—rooted in decades of personal conviction and a carefully constructed political strategy.

August 7, 2022: The Inaugural Signal

From his very first moments as president, Petro made clear that regional unity would define his foreign policy. Standing before crowds in Bogotá, he quoted Bolívar directly:

"Today we need to be more joined and united than ever. As Simón Bolívar once said: 'Unity must save us, just as division will destroy us if it is introduced among us'. May the division of Latin America come to an end."

This wasn't standard diplomatic boilerplate. Petro was signaling a fundamental reorientation of Colombian foreign policy—away from the U.S.-aligned posture of his predecessors and toward Latin American solidarity.

September 2022: The Border Reopens

Petro's first major action came within weeks. On September 26, 2022, the Colombia-Venezuela border—closed since 2015 under the Santos and Duque administrations—officially reopened. It was more than a logistical decision. It was a statement: the era of isolation was over.

The economic impact was immediate. Trade that had collapsed to under $200 million annually began recovering. By 2024, bilateral commerce would reach $1.2 billion—a 144% increase in just two years.

2023-2024: Building the Coalition

With the border open, Petro turned to institution-building. He championed Colombia's engagement with CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States—a regional body that pointedly excludes the United States and Canada.

In June 2025, Colombia joined the BRICS New Development Bank, signaling a willingness to explore alternatives to U.S.-dominated financial institutions. The same month, Petro announced Colombia would join China's Belt and Road Initiative—the first major Latin American economy to do so under his watch.

April 2025: The García Márquez Moment

At the 9th CELAC Summit in Honduras, Petro delivered what many consider his most important foreign policy speech. Invoking Colombia's most famous novelist, he framed regional integration in existential terms:

"We can either face the world alone, as in One Hundred Years of Solitude, or we can act as a united humanity and support one another."

The literary reference was deliberate. García Márquez's masterpiece is, at its core, a meditation on Latin American isolation and its consequences. Petro was arguing that fragmentation had been tried—for a hundred years of solitude—and had failed.

July 2025: The Energy Framework

At the VII CELAC Energy Ministerial Meeting, Petro unveiled another piece of the puzzle: regional energy integration focused on decarbonization.

"The Grancolombiano project can begin as an example for Latin America and the Caribbean, through the integration of Gran Colombia in terms of clean energy, without C [Carbon]."

This was the first time Petro used the term "Grancolombiano project" in an official setting. The confederation was no longer subtext—it was becoming policy.

January 2026: The Proposal

When Petro finally unveiled his full confederation proposal on January 10, 2026, none of it should have been surprising. Every element—the Parliament, the Court of Justice, the Government Council, the clean energy focus—had been telegraphed over three years of speeches, summits, and strategic moves.

What changed was the context. With Maduro removed from power and Venezuela in transition, a window had opened. Petro moved to seize it.

The Long Game

Petro's journey reveals a leader playing a long game. Each step built on the last. The border reopening created economic interdependence. CELAC engagement built diplomatic infrastructure. The BRICS and Belt and Road moves demonstrated alternatives to U.S. hegemony. The energy framework provided a modern, climate-focused rationale.

By the time he proposed the confederation, Petro had spent three years laying the groundwork. The dream of Gran Colombia was no longer just a 19th-century memory. It was a 21st-century policy platform—with a sitting president's full weight behind it.