Duque, the center-right President whose term ends in early August following the election of leftist politician Gustavo Petro last month, said that populism, coupled with political polarization and the shared notion of truth, could “doom” the prospect of progress in any region in the world.

“If you have those three pieces combined, you’re basically doomed. They [populist politicians] will destroy everything that you have before you. I think the biggest dilemma in Latin America is more demagogues versus pedagogues and autocrats versus democrats,” Duque told The Jakarta Post during an interview on Monday night.

The 45-year-old conservative politician also warned that a combination of illicit funding, social media pressure and the use of violence could be the vehicle for what he called “political opportunists” to destroy democracy.

“It’s an experiment that is happening in Indonesia, Canada, Iran, Taiwan, Korea [...] and the United States. Just to derail the trust people have in institution,” he said.

Duque was responding to a question on whether the series of wins from leftist candidates in Latin and South American countries could pose a problem to development in the region.

He was quick to respond that the ideological battle between the left and right was no longer relevant, and that political leaders had adopted policy positions taken by their rivals from across the aisle.

“I have been characterized as extreme right, but if you look at social expenditure in Colombia, no other government in our recent history has done so much in favor of [the] social safety net. Also, we made the highest increase in minimum wage in almost 70 years,” said Duque.

The outgoing President also said that some of his predecessors, including Alvaro Uribe who many considered to be his mentor and an extreme right politician, had also expanded social spending.

“I don’t see Latin America from the prism of left and right,” he added.

Colombia has been deemed one of the best performing Latin American economies, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first quarter of this year, Colombia’s output grew at an annual rate of 7.5 percent.

Duque has allocated some of the revenue to bolster the nation’s social insurance system, while abolishing tuition for virtually all students at the country’s public colleges and universities.

His administration has also been credited with effectively handling the pandemic. As of mid-June, at least 70 percent of Colombia’s population has been fully inoculated with vaccines from Western pharmaceuticals.

Thanks to the Duque administration’s close ties with the United States, Colombia qualified for the first exports of the Pfizer vaccine from the US and commenced its national vaccination program in early 2021.

Duque also expressed his optimism that the administration of incoming president Gustavo Petro, an ex-guerilla and former mayor of the capital Bogota, would continue some of his policies, including maintaining good relations with the US.

“If they can improve on the way I managed the country, it is something that I also want to see,” he said.

Soon after Petro won the election, Duque promised a “transparent and efficient” regime transition.

“Yesterday, we Colombians went to the polls, we expressed our points of view, and the first thing one must recognize to defend democracy is the popular will,” Duque tweeted in early June.

Last week, Petro met with representatives of US President Joe Biden’s administration in Bogota, where they discussed issues such as drug trafficking, the environment and economic development.

Petro has been roundly critical of the US-led global war on drugs and was elected on his promises to tackle deep inequality and climate change, and to seek peace with the remaining leftist rebels.

“This is a positive meeting because it shows the interest that exists in the government of the United States in Latin America and in Colombia,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.

Asked about his future plans, Duque said he would focus on dividing his time campaigning for the environment and spending more time with his wife and three children.

“You can expect me to be in Indonesia next year to promote some action policies [...] And also, I would go back to my electric guitar once in awhile,” he added.