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Thousands of Colombians mobilised across the country on September 19 in defence of the government’s pension reforms and to reject the attempts by right-wing forces to oust President Gustavo Petro.

The reforms, which aim to expand the number of Colombians with access to liveable pensions, were passed in June, but have been challenged by right-wing opponents in the country’s Constitutional Court.

Colombia has a privatised pension system, relying on workers to make contributions to private funds. Low pay, informal work and unemployment means that many workers retire in poverty, with little or no pensions. The increase state control over the system, introducing a pillared system of contributions based on income, with a state pension provided to those who were unable to make contributions.

Petro came to power in 2022 on a platform of addressing widespread poverty, reforming the privatised health and education sectors and promises to reopen stalled negotiations with armed guerilla groups, with the aim of securing “”.

Since Petro assumed office, supporters of the neoliberal status quo have used their entrenched control of Colombia’s judiciary, Congress and media outlets to undermine the country’s first leftist government.

Former attorney-general Francisco Barbosa, appointed under the previous right-wing Iván Duque government, used his position up until February to open several investigations against Petro and his team. Despite the supposed nonpartisanship of the attorney-general position, Barbosa launched vitriolic attacks against Petro, calling his election to president an “” and to notorious cartel leader Pablo Escobar.

Barbosa ordered in January on the offices of the Colombian Federation of Education Workers, the country’s teachers’ union, with far-fetched claims of irregularities in their donations to Petro’s presidential campaign.

Carlos Cruz Mosquera in Jacobin that Colombia’s judiciary is “jealously commandeered by the country’s ruling class — with strategic and material support from the United States — as a political weapon”.

Likewise, Congress — dominated by an alliance of right and far-right parties — has played an obstructionist role in blocking legislation put forward by Petro’s ministers.

Petro’s opposition in Congress did not show up in June last year for a scheduled debate on major labour reforms, meaning the body to reach quorum and the reforms were shelved. was finally passed in June, which strengthens some labour rights, such as maximum working hours and overtime pay, but excludes critical measures like unions’ collective bargaining rights.

Congress has consistently attempts to reform Colombia’s expensive and privatised healthcare system to broaden access to healthcare, improve primary care and disease prevention and raise health workers’ salaries.

Hundreds of political leaders, including France’s Jean Luc Mélenchon and Britain’s Jeremy Corbyn, as well as US intellectual Noam Chomsky, signed on to a in June last year condemning the attempted “soft coup” against the Petro government.

The letter highlighted the actions of Barbosa using the attorney-general’s office to target members of the Historic Pact government.

“The goal of this coordinated campaign is clear,” the letter read. “To protect the interests of Colombia’s traditional powers from popular reforms that would raise wages, improve healthcare, protect the environment, and deliver ‘total peace’ to the country.”

Meanwhile, the country’s corporate-owned media have spread disinformation, manufactured scandals involving Petro and his ministers and consistently platformed Petro’s opponents.

The latest scandals revolve around accusations that Petro breached spending limits in his 2022 presidential campaign, therefore violating electoral laws. While the National Electoral Council (CNE), the body responsible for investigating the case, does not have the power to bring impeachment proceedings against Petro, the CNE could the case to the Accusations Commission, which does.

It remains to be seen whether there were irregularities in the funding of Petro’s presidential campaign. Regardless, the mainstream media’s coverage of Petro’s alleged wrongdoings is hypocritical when looking at the scandals surrounding former right-wing presidents.

Former president Duque funnelled public money into his 2018 electoral campaign and is under investigation for electoral fraud and .

There is showing that Álvaro Uribe, president from 2002–10, was involved in electoral fraud and the illegal financing of Duque’s presidential campaign.

Juan Manuel Santos, president between 2010–18, to illegally financing his successful 2010 election campaign.

The scandals surrounding former right-wing presidents feature little in Colombian mainstream media, compared with the close attention and for resignation that characterise coverage of Petro.

Manuella Libardi in OpenDemocracy that the “aggressive manner in which Colombian hegemonic media has covered investigations into Petro’s campaign funding appears completely disproportionate compared to the cases of the last three presidents”.

The campaign against Petro represents “”, a strategy used by Latin America’s economic elite in recent years to remove progressive leaders from power.

Opposition forces in the judiciary, backed by corporate media smear campaigns, gradually eliminate progressive lawmakers. For example, inspector-general Margarita Cabello, a close ally of Uribe and Duque, filed charges to suspend two Historic Pact senators, one for police violence during the 2021 national protests.

Congress and other lawmaking bodies block progressive reforms, while passing others that weaken the progressive government and strengthen their own position. This has the added effect of reducing approval ratings of the government, as people become frustrated with promised reforms not materialising.

Finally, the entrenched right-wing judiciary find a pretext to begin impeachment proceedings.  

Lawfare is a much subtler process than the violent military coups that Latin America’s economic elite — usually backed by the United States — used to rely on for removing undesirable governments. Legislative or “soft” coups seek to avoid the social upheavals that arise in response.

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo faced a similarly hostile Congress and judiciary that were eventually successful in ousting him in a legislative coup in December 2022.

Petro has tried to combat Congress’ obstructionism and negative media campaigns by repeatedly calling for nationwide street mobilisations to pressure Congress to pass his proposed reforms, like the most recent September 19 rallies.