For the first time in its entire history, Colombia elected a left-wing president on Sunday June 19. Gustavo Petro, 62, won the second round of voting, with 50.44% of the vote. His opponent, the wealthy businessman and independent candidate Rodolfo Hernandez, won 47.31%, according to the provisional results announced in the evening. The turnout was 58%, a record since 1997. If Mr. Petro’s victory is historic, that of his vice-president Francia Marquez, an Afro-descendant, feminist and environmentalist, is no less so. Mr. Gustavo Petro will succeed Ivan Duque on August 7th.
At the head of a coalition known as the Historic Pact, Gustavo Petro was a candidate for the third time. An economist by training, he belonged in his youth to the small urban guerrillas of the M-19, which laid down their arms in 1990. Gustavo Petro has since been a deputy, senator, mayor of Bogota and again a senator. Throughout the presidential campaign, the right – which rallied Mr. Rodolfo for the second round – did not fail to recall Mr. Petro’s guerrilla past.
“The government that will take office on August 7 will be one of life, peace, social justice and environmental justice,” launched Mr. Petro, Sunday evening, on the stage of Movistar, a large performance hall in Bogota, in front of his jubilant supporters. The future head of state was surrounded by his relatives, the future vice-president and many activists.
“Reconcile this nation”
On Twitter, Francia Marquez dedicated her victory “to elders, women, youth, LGBTIQ+ people, indigenous people, peasants, victims, [s]we people black, to those who resisted, to those who are no longer there, to all of Colombia”. At the microphone, she welcomed the arrival “of a government of the people, a government of people who go on foot, a government for those who are nothing”. And to conclude, “together, we will reconcile this nation, in joy and peace”.
Esto es por nuestras abuelas y abuelos, las mujeres, los jóvenes, las personas LGTBIQ+, los indígenas, los campesin… https://t.co/y6LmkjZIhG
“There will only be respect and dialogue”, promised Mr. Petro, who, even before his election, had called for a major national agreement to pull the country out of the crisis and consolidate peace. He had received between the two rounds the support of several centrist personalities, who defend the peace agreement signed in 2016 with the Marxist guerrillas of the FARC and scuttled in part by the government of Ivan Duque. “Rodolfo Hernandez supporters will be able to come and chat with us whenever they want, Mr. Petro insisted. Opposition, whatever it is, will always be welcome. » The elected president, who promised to make Colombia “a power of life, leading the fight against climate change”, also tried to reassure business leaders: “We are going to develop capitalism. Not that we like the system, but because we have to get out of feudalism and enter modernity. » His conciliatory speech did not convince all his opponents.
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