# Inauguration of Gustavo Petro

* This article is part of a series about Gustavo Petro
Political career
President (2022–present) Senator (2006–2010), (2018-2022) Mayor of Bogotá (2012-2014; 2014-2015)
34th President of Colombia
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Historic Pact
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Gustavo Petro's inauguration as the 34th President of Colombia took place on Sunday, August 7, 2022, marking the start of Gustavo Petro's four-year term as President and Francia Márquez as vice president. The 32nd presidential inauguration took place as usual in the central front of the National Capitol in Bogotá, D.C. Petro was sworn in as presidential oath, after which Márquez was sworn in as Vice President.
The inauguration took place amid the political polarization experienced during the 2022 Colombian presidential election, the festivities featured a wide variety of demonstrations by fans. The live audience was almost unlimited, being the first time that the event was almost exclusively for the public, marking a milestone in presidential inauguration events by being generally a private event; Members of Congress as well as the people to the full attended the event, which resembles a speech from a united Colombia.

## Context

The inauguration marked the formal culmination of the presidential transition of Gustavo Petro, who had become president-elect after defeating Rodolfo Hernández on June 19, 2022. The victory of Petro and his running mate, Francia Márquez, was formalized by the certification of the National Electoral Council on June 23, 2022. In a message to the nation, Duque congratulated the Colombian people on their election.
After his inauguration, Petro became the president with the highest voter turnout in history. He also became the first president of Córdoba, the first leftist, and the third former mayor of Bogotá to be elected president after Andrés Pastrana. Márquez became the second woman to hold national elected office and the first Afro-Colombian vice president.

## Planning

The ceremony set a record for being the first in history with the largest audience. For the first time in twenty years, no carpets were used along the path to the center stage in the Plaza de Bolívar.

### Ceremony

The presidential inauguration ceremony began at 3:00 p.m. when Gustavo Petro made his way from the San Carlos Palace to Plaza de Bolívar via Carrera Decima. Senate Secretary General Gragorio Eljach opened the session by reading the Agenda. The Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra played the National Anthem of Colombia. Pianist Teresita Gómez performed Frédéric Chopin's Second Nocturne, Op. 9, during the arrival of the Sword of Bolívar. For the first time in history, the Sword of Bolívar was present at a presidential inauguration. The Military Forces Bands sang "The Salute to the Flag" as a farewell to Iván Duque. Senate President Roy Barreras opened the ceremony with a brief speech. Petro took the oath of office and received the presidential sash from Senator María José Pizarro. Márquez was sworn in as the first Afro-Colombian to take office.

### Invitees

Gustavo Petro's inauguration marked the first inauguration with unlimited public attendance as well as the first for a leftist president in Colombian history.
Former presidents César Gaviria, Ernesto Samper and Juan Manuel Santos (Petro's former opponent in 2010) attended the inauguration. Former first ladies Ana Milena Muñoz de Gaviria, Jacquin Strouss de Samper and María Clemencia de Santos also attended. While former presidents Andrés Pastrana and Álvaro Uribe were absent. Argentine President Alberto Fernández, Bolivian President Luis Arce, Chilean President Gabriel Boric and First Lady Irina Karamanos, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves, Dominican President Luis Abinader, Ecuatorian President Guillermo Lasso, Honduran President Xiomara Castro, Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez and Spanish King Felipe VI. Also present Vice President of El Salvador Félix Ulloa,, Vice President of Iran Mohammad Hossein Adeli, Vice President of Peru Dina Boluarte, Vice President of Panama José Gabriel Carrizo, Vice President of Uruguay Beatriz Argimón, the First Lady of Mexico Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller represented President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Also present were the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Alberto França of Brazil, Antonia Urrejola of Chile, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla of Cuba, Riyad al-Maliki of Palestine, Erika Mouynes of Panama, João Gomes Cravinho of Portugal and Nikola Selaković of Serbia. The Prime Minister of Curazao Gilmar Pisas, Prime Minister of Guyana Mark Philips and Mignon Bowen-Phillips, Secretary of Forign Affairs of Mexico Marcelo Ebrard, President of the Algerian Parliament Ibrahim Boughali, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development Samantha Power, Member of the Japanese Parliment Shunichi Yamaguchi and Member of the Korean Parliment Park Duk-hyum.

### Oaths of office

The president of the Senate, Roy Barreras, the natural head of congress, administered the oath of office to Petro at 3:30 p.m. m., with 20 minutes remaining in Duque's term. Barreras became the first president to take an inaugural oath twice after taking the Santos oath in 2012. Petro recited the following:
   Roy Barreras: Invoking the protection of God, you swear before this corporation that represents the people of Colombia, to faithfully and legally comply with the duties that the position of President of the Republic imposes on you in accordance with the constitution and the laws.
   I swear to God and promise to the people to faithfully comply with the constitution and laws of Colombia.
   Roy Barreras: If it were so that God this corporation and the people, reward you if not that he and they demand it of you
The incumbent President then administered Márquez's oath of office at 4:40 p.m. m., with 20 minutes remaining in Ramirez's term. Márquez recited the following, as prescribed by the Constitution:
   Gustavo Petro: Invoking the protection of God, you swear before this corporation that represents the people of Colombia, to faithfully and legally comply with the duties that the position of Vice President of the Republic imposes on you in accordance with the constitution and the laws.
   I swear to God and to the people to faithfully comply with the constitution and laws of Colombia, I also swear before my ancestors and ancestors, until dignity becomes a custom.

### Bolivar sword

The planning of the presidential inauguration was in the hands of Eva Ferrer, to whom the president-elect Petro had expressed the intention of the presence of the sword of Bolívar in his inaugural act as well as that the act be as public as possible with the presence of people in the squares, which generated great and arduous work, since the idea of paying an insurance of 300 million pesos that was worth the insurance policy required for the presence of the mythical bolivar sword.
On Saturday afternoon, August 6, the Casa de Nariño shared a statement in which it was emphatically prohibited for Bolivar's sword to come out, as well as a prohibition on the idea of installing Fernando's peace dove sculpture. Botero, the statement argued that the sword could not be lent for security reasons, as this is an element of great historical value, expressing that while he was president, the sword did not leave the Casa de Nariño.
On August 7, after he was sworn in as president, this would be his first petition as president of the republic, the presence of the sword of Bolivar at the inauguration ceremony was exercised by members of the military house of the casa de Nariño who in They entered for 5 minutes guarding the sword that was in a 3-mm bulletproof glass case that had been tested 3 days before the opening ceremony, the outgoing president allowed the departure of the sword before a supervision carried out by himself where, once he had supervised that the pertinent protocols were taken, he gave the order to the head of the military house to guard the sword upon its arrival at the Plaza de Bolivar.

## Television broadcast
### Colombian broadcasters coverage

The coverage began early at 9:00 in the morning, the main television and radio networks in the country settled in a press room and exclusive boxes for the official broadcast.
Media such as Caracol Television, RCN, Red Mas and Señal Colombia carried out exclusive coverage of the presidential inauguration minute by minute, with the analysis of each symbology and an interpretation of the long-awaited opening speech by Gustavo Petro.