PRESIDENTIAL IN COLOMBIA

SOON A LEFT PRESIDENT ?

Gustavo Petro came out on top on Sunday, May 29, in the first round of the presidential election in Colombia. He will face, in the second round, an independent candidate, Rodolfo Hernandez, according to the provisional official results published in the evening. Mr. Petro has 40.32% of the vote, ahead of Mr. Hernandez (28.20%). Conservative candidate Federico Gutierrez is in third place with 23.87%, a surprise result that marks an unprecedented defeat for Colombia's traditional right. For the first time in its history, Colombia could elect a leftist president in the election presidential election, the second round of which will take place on June 19.

In the opinion of all observers, Senator Petro, a former guerrilla convert to social democracy, an economist and former mayor of Bogotá, was able to exploit the thirst for change shown by Colombians in the face of inequalities and corruption, a need which he made his emblem with his slogan "For life".

The four years in office of outgoing Conservative President Ivan Duque, who could not stand for re-election, saw no substantive reform. They have been marked by the pandemic, a deep recession, massive anti-government protests in cities and worsening violence by armed groups in the countryside. The "paro" (strike) of spring 2021, severely repressed by the police, revealed the extent of frustration, especially among young people, in the face of poverty, inequality and corruption, an evil endemic to the country. rural areas, guerrillas and armed groups linked to drug trafficking have increased their violence and their influence within communities, undermining the few achievements of the peace agreement signed in 2016 with the Marxist Farc.

“There are only two options: leave things as they are (…), which means more corruption, violence, hunger. Or change Colombia and lead it towards peace, prosperity and democracy,” Petro said on Sunday after voting in Bogota.

This is the third time that Mr. Petro has participated in the presidential election. This time, he has as a running mate for the vice-presidency an Afro-Colombian, Francia Marquez. The rise to the top of the state of this charismatic activist with a feminist and anti-racist discourse would also mark a turning point in Colombian politics, traditionally dominated by the same elites.

Facing the “Colombian Trump”

As some polls at the end of the campaign suggested, millionaire Rodolfo Hernandez, 77, came in second. The former mayor of the city of Bucaramanga (north), a businessman with often outrageous or eccentric statements, is nicknamed by the local press the "Colombian Trump".

While Mr. Gutierrez was seen throughout the campaign as Petro's challenger, these surprise results mark the historic rout of Colombia's old right, like his mentor, ex-president Alvaro Uribe, today. mired in legal disputes.

After Chile, Colombia is in the process of electing a left-wing president. The country could turn the page on half a century of right-wing government and see a black woman and environmental activist take up her vice presidency.