The Role of Social Forgiveness and Non-Forgiveness in Shaping the Political Discourse Around Gustavo Petro during the 2022 Colombian Presidential Elections

Objective/context: This article examines the use of emotional argumentation patterns of social forgiveness and non-forgiveness regarding Gustavo Petro’s past in the M-19 movement in the context of the 2022 Colombian presidential elections. Methodology: An inductive media framing analysis of selected Colombian newspapers was carried out. The frames analyzed exemplify the relevance different newspapers have attributed to Petro’s past in their pre-election coverage. Conclusions: This analysis demonstrates that those frames that project a negative view of Petro’s past carried especially marked patterns of non-forgiveness and an accompanying delegitimization of his person and political ambitions. The negative portrayal in a particular newspaper presented clear patterns of emotional argumentation of politically ideological opposition to Petro in contrast to the media landscape in general. The other newspapers analyzed, however, revealed a predominantly neutral pattern of argumentation that paid attention to Petro’s past but did not use it judgmentally against him. In relatively few cases, the argument of social forgiveness was even used in his favor. The results show that, especially for the ideological opposition to Petro, reference to his past in the M-19 was considered a legitimate means to undermine his political ambitions. However, considering the general overall coverage of the newspapers, Petro’s past was of marginal importance. Originality: This analysis provides insights into how Colombian media framed the past of the current Colombian president in the M-19 during the 2022 presidential campaign, potentially influencing public opinion-making processes. The results can serve as a reference for more comprehensive analyses to better understand the role of forgiveness and non-forgiveness in the context of political discourses in post-conflict states.