Opposition leader Gustavo Petro won the first round of Colombia’s presidential election by a wide margin on Sunday and is now widely believed to be the first left-wing president in the country’s recent history, following a historic and painful defeat by traditional right.
He will face off in the second round on June 19 with an independent candidate, millionaire Rodolfo Hernandez. Right-wing candidate Federico Gutierrez came in third, a result that surprised many and marked an unprecedented defeat for the faction that monopolized power for decades in the Andean state.
Favorite of the polls throughout the election campaign, Senator Petros, a former far-left rebel who turned into a Social Democrat, economist, and former mayor of the capital Bogota, secured 40.32% of the vote6 (8.526). with the almost final official result, with 99.95% of the ballots counted.
“Colombian Trump”
According to almost all analysts, Mr. Petros, 62, has ridden the wave of Colombians’ apparent desire for change amid chaotic inequality and corruption. His motto, “for life”, highlighted this very need.
During the four years in office of outgoing right-wing President Ivan Duque, who had no right to run for re-election, no in-depth reforms were launched. His four years were marked by the pandemic of the new coronavirus, the deep recession, the mass anti-government demonstrations that paralyzed many cities, the worsening of the violence of the armed organizations in the provinces.
“There are two alternatives: to leave things as they are (…), which means more corruption, violence, hunger. “Or change Colombia, lead it to peace, prosperity and democracy.”
His possible rise to the top post would be a political earthquake in a country where conservatives have monopolized power for decades.
Businessman and independent candidate Rodolfo Hernandez, 77, comes in second (27.94%), overtaking right-wing candidate Federico Gutierrez (23.95%) to record the surprise of election night with a historic, painful defeat in the traditional right, which has held power for decades in the Latin American country.
The second round of the presidential election, with the participation of the two leading candidates, is expected to take place on June 19th.
Dozens of journalists were waiting yesterday for the first statements of the winner of the first round at the candidate’s headquarters in Bogota. Around them, supporters of the “Historic Agreement” celebrated with applause every time new results were given, which confirmed the lead of Senator Peter.
This is the third time he has run for president. This time, his candidate for vice president is an Afro-Colombian, Franca Marquez. Rising to the second most important position in the country of the charismatic activist with a feminist discourse would also mark a turning point in Colombian politics, which is traditionally dominated by the same elites.
According to opinion polls, 77-year-old businessman Rodolfo Hernandez came in second with about 28.2% of the vote (5,952,783).
Mr. Hernandez, a former mayor of Bucaramanga (north), a businessman who often makes eccentric or extreme statements, is referred to by some in the media as “Colombian Trump.” He surpassed Mr. Gutierrez by about four points (23.91%, 5,057,450 votes).
“Absolute calm”
Although for almost the entire election campaign Mr. Gutierrez was considered Mr. Petros’s main opponent, the surprise result for many marks an unprecedented defeat for the traditional right in Colombia, in the image of its mentor, Alvaro Uribe, now facing with court adventures.
“Today the country has won because it does not want to continue one more day with the same people who led us to the painful situation we are living in,” Mr Hernandez said in Bucaramanga, his stronghold. He mainly promises to fight corruption, although he is facing an investigation for suspicious transactions.
“We now know that there is a strong will of the people to end corruption in the system of government,” he added, adding that “the next few days will be crucial for the future of the country.” “I count on you for the victory in the second round so that we can take the big road that opened today,” he added.
“Fifteen days ago, no one imagined that a tiktokero (so-called user of the Tiktok platform) would become the political force of this first round,” and possibly “the worst nightmare” of Mr Petros, commented the Cambio news website. summing up the surprise of the Colombian press.
The almost eighty-year-old candidate managed to “go up in the polls” out of nowhere and “without even leaving home and thanks to a lightning campaign on social networking sites” to represent the desires of “part of the population and become “the only candidate who is capable of beating Petros,” commented Cambio.
The participation reached 54.8%. Voting went smoothly, according to authorities. Numerous international observers, particularly from the European Union and the Organization of American States, have been monitoring the process, with some 300,000 police and military deployed across the country, as violence by armed groups has escalated in recent months.
Interior Minister Daniel Palacios spoke of “absolute calm, without major disruption of public order”, although 600 cases of irregularities were reported.
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