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Bogota, August 8 (RHC)-- Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez were sworn in this Sunday as president and vice president of Colombia by the president of the Colombian Senate, Roy Barreras.  The ceremony saw the participation of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá, international guests -- including presidents and representatives of governments around the region and the world -- and 100,000 attendees in the historic Plaza de Bolivar.

Following his investiture, President Gustavo Petro emphasized that during his administration, policies to protect life and the implementation of the Peace Agreement will be strengthened, where the central axis will be the fulfillment of the 1991 Constitution.

"Nothing would exist in my life without my mother, here is my father, my brothers, my children, my wife (who will accompany the women of Colombia in their efforts to get ahead), here are the people, the humble hands of the peasant workers and those who sweep the streets," acknowledged the newly sworn-in head of state.

The President described this new stage as a second opportunity for Colombia to put an end to violence and extreme poverty.   "We are against all odds, against those who did not want to let go of power, but we did it.  We made the impossible possible, traveling and listening with ideas, with love, with the heart and the brain, from today we begin to work so that more impossible things are possible in Colombia.  If we could, we can."

"We have to end forever these six decades of conflict.  We will comply with the Peace Agreement, we will follow to the letter the recommendations of the Truth Commission that tells us of dead (...).  We cannot continue in the country of death and we have to build the country of life.  This is the government of life, peace and it will be remembered as such.  Peace is possible if we unleash in the regions the social dialogue to meet in the midst of our differences," said President Petro.

At the same time, the new head of state explained that to achieve peace it is necessary to open channels of dialogue with all armed and unarmed actors.  "The Government of change will be decentralized, we will work from Leticia to Punta Gallinas, from Cabo Manglares to Isla San José."