Left-wing opposition candidate Gustavo Petro won the first round of Sunday’s presidential election in Colombia by a wide margin and will face independent Rodolfo Hernández in the second round, according to provisional official results.
Petro obtained 40.33% of the votes, ahead of Hernández who, with 28.14%, surpassed the conservative candidate Federico Gutiérrez (23.90%), indicate the results published by the National Census, in charge of organizing the scrutiny, when more than 97% of the votes are counted.
Second place for Hernández, a billionaire businessman whose outrageous or eccentric statements led the local press to dub him the “Colombian Trump,” surprised.
Throughout the campaign, it was considered that Gutiérrez would be the opponent of the favorite Petro in the second round of the presidential elections, scheduled for June 19, so these results represent a historic defeat for the traditional right, in power since decades ago in Colombia.
According to the National Census, voting took place “normally” throughout the country.
Gustavo Petro affirmed that this victory is a defeat for the political project of Colombian President Iván Duque. The leftist opposition candidate also promised “a real change” against his rival in the second round, the populist Rodolfo Hernández.
Petro, who obtained 40.33% of the votes, will face Rodolfo Hernández, a populist billionaire businessman (28.14%), in the second round on June 19, when 99.95% of the votes will be counted. .
Gustavo Petro surpassed the conservative candidate Federico Gutiérrez (23.90%), identified, during the campaign, as a future opponent in the second round of the presidential elections, so these results represent a historic defeat of the traditional right, in power for decades in Colombia.
Source: Observadora
