Petro advances in the OAS: His candidate is elected assistant secretary general

Colombian Laura Gil was anointed Monday as the No. 2 at the Organization of American States (OAS). The pick of Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, needed two rounds to surpass the 18 votes needed to become deputy secretary general of the multilateral organization.

Aged 59, Gil held several positions in Petro's socialist government. After serving as vice-chancellor for Multilateral Affairs, she was appointed by the president as ambassador to Austria. She is also a permanent representative to the United Nations in Vienna.

According to sources consulted by Colombian media outlet El Tiempo, the United States supported another candidate: Guatemalan Claudia Escobar. The objective, according to the newspaper, was to avoid a diplomatic victory for Petro. The Colombian president and Donald Trump have butted heads several times in public, for example over the deportation flights.

Escobar came in third place. She had the support of U.S. allies such as Argentina and El Salvador. Second was Ana María Sánchez, former ambassador of Peru who, according to Infobae, presented herself as the option to overcome the Colombia-Guatemala polarization. With the backing of leftist countries such as Brazil and Bolivia, Gil became the assistant secretary general.

She will work under Albert Ramdin, who will take over the general secretariat from Uruguay's Luis Almagro at the end of the month. The Surinamese foreign minister was proclaimed secretary general in early March. He had the support of socialist-led countries, such as the aforementioned Brazil and Bolivia, as well as Mexico and Colombia.

Ramdin "has a long history with China," wrote VOZ analyst Vanessa Vallejo. Vallejo warned that his victory, then not yet consummated, "would open the doors of all the countries in the region to China." Gil's victory could be another step in that direction.