Gustavo Petro Is The First Leftist President Elected In Colombia

Countercurrents | June 20, 2022

Gustavo Petro, a former rebel, has been elected Colombia’s first leftist president on Sunday. Petro’s triumph, in one of the most historically conservative countries on the continent, is a stunning example of widespread discontent that is shaking the status quo. It is a powerful rejection of the political establishment that has ruled the South American nation for two centuries.

Voters on Sunday also made history in electing the country’s first Black female vice president, Francia Márquez, an environmental activist, lawyer and former housekeeper who energized a large Afro-Colombian community that long felt forgotten by those in power.

“Today is a party for the people,” Petro said in a tweet Sunday night. “Let us celebrate the first popular victory. May the sufferings of many now be cushioned in the joy that today floods the hearts of the Homeland.”

Petro’s competitor Rodolfo Hernández swiftly accepted the results on Twitter.

Who will be the next president of Colombia?

Senator Gustavo Petro of the left-wing Historic Pact coalition is running against businessman Rodolfo Hernández of the League of Anti-Corruption Governors movement for the presidency of Colombia in Sunday’s run-off vote

Tanya Wadhwa

People’s Dispatch | June 18, 2022

Gustavo Petro of the left-wing Historic Pact coalition is running against Rodolfo Hernández of the League of Anti-Corruption Governors movement for the presidency of Colombia in Sunday’s run-off. Photo: Archives

On Sunday, June 19, Colombians will return to the polls in the second round to elect the country’s new president and vice president for the period 2022-2026.

Senator Gustavo Petro and environmental activist Francia Márquez of the left-wing Historic Pact coalition are running against businessman Rodolfo Hernández and professor Marelen Castillo of the League of Anti-Corruption Governors movement for the presidency and vice presidency of Colombia, respectively. Petro and Márquez won the May 29 first round of elections with over 40% of the votes. Meanwhile, Hernández and Castillo followed them with over 28% of the votes.

The winners of Sunday’s run-off vote will replace conservative President Iván Duque and Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez on August 7, who are leaving the office with a record 80% disapproval rating. Petro and Hernández are both considered anti-establishment candidates and have promised to respond to the demands manifested in street protests in the last four years.