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The Colombian right has done everything in its power to undermine Gustavo Petro. That hasn’t stopped the nation’s first leftist president from achieving ambitious reforms for Colombia’s poor and working class.

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If implemented, the Piketty-esque legislation proposed by President Gustavo Petro could raise more than $11.5bn annually to fund anti-poverty efforts, free public university and other social welfare programs.

Former fighter in the M-19 militia beat populist business tycoon and fellow political outsider Rodolfo Hernández in runoff on Sunday

A popular uprising of millions. A candidate from the social movements. A broad Left electoral front. Colombia’s political ground is shifting.

The result will have major implications for the U.S. government, which has given Colombia more than $13 billion in assistance so far this century, far more than for any other country in the hemisphere.

USAID has funded the Cerrejón Foundation, charitable arm of Cerrejón mine in Caribbean Colombia, to the tune of millions. Its community development projects are a front tied to long history of displacement, violence, and death.

In 2018, 12 Latin American countries from Mexico to Peru will hold elections at different levels: presidential, legislative and municipal. Of the 12 elections, seven are for their respective presidents in Costa Rica, Cuba, Paraguay, Colombia, México, Brazil, and Venezuela. What are the expectations?

“The horrible night has ceased,” said Santos, quoting a phrase from Colombia’s national anthem. ‘I can’t believe this is really happening. This is a great day for Colombia,’ says Alonso Cardoza from the remote town of Uribe where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia formally took its name.