Colombia: Gustavo Petro largely in the lead of the presidential election

Opponent Gustavo Petro won the first round of Colombia's presidential election by a wide margin on Sunday and now has a strong chance of becoming the country's first left-wing president in recent history, after a historic rout of the right.

He will face in the second round on June 19 an independent candidate, the millionaire Rodolfo Hernandez.

Conservative candidate Frederico Gutierrez came third, a surprise result that marks an unprecedented defeat for Colombia's traditional right.

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Favorite in the polls throughout the campaign, Senator Petro, a former guerrilla convert to social democracy, economist and former mayor of Bogota, obtained 40.32% of the vote, according to official results covering 99% of the ballots counted. .

In the opinion of all observers, Petro, 62, has been able to exploit the thirst for change shown by Colombians in the face of inequality and corruption, a need which he has made his emblem with his slogan "for life".

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The four years in office of outgoing Conservative President Ivan Duque, who could not stand for re-election, saw no substantive reform.

They were marked by the pandemic, a deep recession, massive anti-government protests in the cities and an increase in violence by armed groups in the countryside.

“

,” Petro said on Sunday after voting in Bogota.

“Colombian Trump”

His accession to the highest office would be a political earthquake in a country where conservatives have monopolized power for decades.

Dozens of journalists awaited Sunday evening the first statements of the winner of this first round at his campaign headquarters in the capital.

Around them, supporters of the “Historic Pact” coalition celebrated with applause each count confirming the advance of their champion.

This is the third time that 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.

As some polls at the end of the campaign suggested, millionaire Rodolfo Hernandez, 77, comes in second place, with 28.20% of the vote.

Hernandez, ex-mayor of the city of Bucaramanga (north) and businessman with often outrageous or eccentric declarations, is nicknamed by the local press the "Colombian Trump".

He is ahead of conservative candidate Federico Gutierrez by almost four points (23.87%).

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

"

," commented Hernandez in the evening from his stronghold of Bucaramanga.

"

, he said, judging that "

.

“

”, he concluded.

The turnout was 54.8% and the ballot took place normally, according to the authorities.

A plethora of international observers, including from the European Union and the Organization of American States, attended the ballot, and nearly 300,000 police and soldiers were deployed throughout the territory, plagued by growing violence from groups armed in recent months.

Interior Minister Daniel Palacios spoke of "

, despite nearly 600 reported irregularities.