Gustavo Petro, left-wing opponent, won the first round in Colombia’s presidential election by a large margin on Sunday. He will now face an unclassifiable, independent candidate in round 2. This unexpected result marks a historic defeat for the traditional right. According to official results, Senator Petro, an economist, former mayor of Bogota and guerrilla convert to socialist democracy, was the favorite in the polls throughout his campaign. He received 40.32% of votes.
On June 19, Hernandez will face opposition from Rodolfo, a millionaire who is often referred to as “Colombian Trump”. Hernandez looks a lot like Berlusconi and came in second place with 28.20%. But he was supported by the whole establishment and the country’s traditional elites. Frederico Gutierrez (alias Fico), came third with 23.87% and demanded Hernandez be voted out in round 2. Gustavo Petro, 62 years old, has harnessed the Colombians’ desire for change in the face corruption and inequality. He has created his emblem with the slogan “for life” to meet this need.
Outgoing Conservative President Ivan Duque was not able to stand for re-election after four years of office. There were no substantive reforms during his four years in office. These four years were marked by the Pandemic, the recession and massive anti-government protests throughout the cities. There was also an increase in violence from armed groups in rural areas. Gustavo Petro said, to cheers by his supporters, “This vote sends a message that an era has ended.”
Gustavo Petro is participating in the presidential election for the third time. He has Francia Marquez as his running mate for vice-presidency. She is an Afro-Colombian charismatic activist and feminist with an anti-racist ideology. In a country where the conservatives have held power for decades, his accession to the highest office will be a political earthquake. He warned that there could be “changes that are void, changes which would be suicide”, referring to Rodolfo Hernandez, his second-round opponent.
“We want to encourage the entire Colombian society to make real changes. He said that today we must define the change we desire, whether it be to commit suicide or move on. To apostrophize, “My opponent is accused of corrupting. Is that what we want?” Is this the same road we are going down? Rodolfo Hernandez (77), ex-mayor of Bucaramanga, north, and businessman with sometimes outrageous and even eccentric statements, denigrates corruption extensively, even though he has been involved in similar cases.
Rodolfo Hernandez, a Bucaramanga stronghold, said that “Today’s country won because it doesn’t want to continue another day avec the same people who brought us to this painful situation that we know.” He stated that citizens now have a strong will to eliminate corruption from the system of government, and that the next few days would be crucial in determining the country’s future. . Although Petro was visible throughout the campaign as Frederico Gutierrez’s challenger in the campaign, these surprising results represent the historic defeat of Colombia’s old right.
Recognizing defeat, the right-wing candidate called for Hernandez’s vote on June 19. He stated, “We don’t want to lose Colombia and we won’t endanger our futures, our families, and our children.” “Gustavo Petro (….) Colombia is not in its best interests. “Fico stated that he would pose a threat to democracy and freedoms and rights. “Fifteenteen days ago, nobody could have imagined that an tiktokero, a TikTok fan, would be the strength for this first round.” And that he could become “Petro’s worst nightmare,” commented the Cambio line media about Rodolfo Hernandez.
Cambio exclaimed in amazement, “This crude, almost octogenarian engineer emerged out of nowhere and started to rise in polls and succeeded without leaving his home. Thanks to a blitz of social media, to meet aspirations and become the only candidate capable to beat Petro.”
