BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – In a coup for Colombia’s political class, a former left-wing rebel and populist businessman took the top two in the country’s presidential election on Sunday and headed for a second round in the June.
Left-wing senator Gustavo Petro led the six-candidate field with just over 40 percent of the vote, while independent real estate mogul Rodolfo Hernandez finished second with more than 28 percent, election officials said Sunday evening.
A candidate needed 50% of the total votes to directly win the contest held amid a polarized environment and growing discontent over rising inequality and inflation.
No matter who wins on June 19, the long-ruled conservative or moderate South American country will see a dramatic shift in presidential policy.
Petro has promised to make significant adjustments to the economy, including tax reform, and change the way Colombia fights drug cartels and other armed groups. Hernandez, whose place in the second round surprised, has few connections to political parties and is committed to reducing government spending and offering rewards to people who denounce corrupt officials.
In areas where Hernandez won in some of the center’s most traditional departments, “the rejection of the status quo even among many of the most conservative Colombians … really shows a dislike for the traditional functioning of Colombian politics.” dir Adam Isacson. , an expert on Colombia in the think tank of the Washington Office for Latin America.
Petro’s main rival for most of the campaign was Federico Gutiérrez, a former mayor of Medellin who was seen as the candidate for continuity and presented himself on a business-friendly economic growth platform. But Hernandez began to rise sharply in recent polls ahead of the election.
There have been a number of left-wing political victories in Latin America as people seek change at a time of dissatisfaction with the economic situation. Chile, Peru and Honduras have elected left-wing presidents in 2021, and in Brazil, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is leading the polls for this year’s presidential election. Mexico elected a left-wing president in 2018.
(Video AP / Marko Alvarez)
“The country’s main problem is inequality of conditions, work is not well paid,” said Jenny Bello, who sold coffee near a long line of voters under a typical cloudy sky in Bogota’s capital. He had to resort to informal sales after months out of work due to the pandemic.
This is the second presidential election since the government signed a peace agreement in 2016 with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC for its acronym in Spanish. But the divisive deal was not a major issue during the campaign, which focused on poverty, inflation and other challenges exacerbated by the pandemic.
It is Petro’s third attempt to become president. In 2018 he was defeated by Iván Duque, who was not eligible for re-election.
“What is being discussed today is change. Political parties allied to Duque’s government, his political project, have been defeated in Colombia, “Petro told his supporters as they celebrated at the headquarters of his campaign in Bogota. “Colombia’s total vote sends this message to the world: a period is coming to an end; an era is over. “
A victory for Petro would mark the beginning of a new political era in a country that has long marginalized the left because of its perceived association with the nation’s armed conflict. He was once a rebel with the defunct M-19 movement and was granted amnesty after being imprisoned for his involvement with the group.
“The 2016 peace deal really broke the link between left-wing politics and guerrilla / terrorist warfare,” Isacson said. “I think people suddenly realized that they could be very critical of the existing system without being painted like a guerrilla.”
But as a sign of resistance to a left-wing government, Gutierrez backed Hernandez shortly after he was left out of the second round.
“Knowing that our position is decisive for Colombia’s future, we have made a decision … we do not want to lose the country,” Gutierrez said, adding that he would support Hernandez because he did not want to put Colombia “at risk.”
Petro has promised to make significant adjustments to the economy, including tax reform, as well as changes in the way Colombia fights drug cartels and other armed groups.
Hernandez, the former mayor of the north-central city of Bucaramanga, has risen in recent polls with promises to “cleanse” the country of corruption and give his salary.
“Now, we are entering the second period, and these next few days will be decisive in determining the future of the country,” Hernandez said in a live broadcast after the first results showed that he advanced to the second round. He said he stands firm in his commitment to ending “corruption as a system of government”.
A Gallup poll earlier this month said 75% of Colombians believe the country is going in the wrong direction and only 27% approve of Duque. A Gallup poll last year found that 60% of respondents were struggling to make ends meet.
The pandemic has delayed efforts against the country’s poverty for at least a decade. Official figures show that 39% of Colombia’s 51.6 million residents lived on less than $ 89 a month last year, a slight improvement from 42.5% in 2020.
Inflation hit two-decade highs last month. The Duke administration said the April 9.2% rate was part of a global inflationary phenomenon, but the argument did nothing to tame discontent over rising food prices.
“The vote serves to change the country, and I think that responsibility lies with young people who want to achieve standards that allow us to have a dignified life,” said Juan David Gonzalez, 28, who voted for the second time in a presidential election.
In addition to the economic challenges, the next president of Colombia will also have to deal with a complex issue of security and corruption, which is one of the main concerns of voters.
The Red Cross concluded last year that Colombia had reached its highest level of violence in five years. Although the peace agreement with the FARC has been implemented, the territories and routes of drug trafficking that it once controlled are in dispute with other armed groups such as the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a guerrilla group founded in the 1960s. the dissidents of the FARC and the Cartel del Clan del Golf.
Duque’s successor will have to decide whether to resume peace talks with the ELN, which he suspended in 2019 after an attack killed more than 20 people.
“Corruption in state entities is the main problem in the country,” Edgar Gonzalez said after voting in Bogota. “… There is a very big change in the country’s policy and if we all exercise the right, we will achieve that change.”
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Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.