Americas Quarterly
The campaign towards the runoff on June 19 could further polarize the country. As polls had predicted, Gustavo Petro (Pacto Histórico) placed first in the first round of the Colombian presidential election on May 29 with a 40% lead. The runner-up, Rodolfo Hernández (Independent) who had surged in polls in the last few weeks, amassed 28% of the preference. The campaign towards the runoff election for the Colombian presidency on June 19 has already started with Hernández receiving the support of the third-place candidate, Fico Gutiérrez, who received about 24% of the votes. AQ asked several observers to share their reaction. Theodore Kahn, senior analyst in Control Risks’ Global Risk Analysis practice Colombians delivered a stunning rejection of the traditional political class in the first round of presidential elections on Sunday. Gustavo Petro, a left-wing former guerrilla, finished first with 40.3% of the votes—the best performance for the left in Colombia’s modern history. Petro wants to overturn the social and economic model by ending new oil and mining exploration, guaranteeing public jobs for the unemployed, and ramping up protection for domestic industry and agriculture. The runner-up, Rodolfo Hernández, is an ideologically ambiguous populist and political outsider. His campaign, notably light on policy proposals, was all about throwing out the corrupt political class. Federico Gutiérrez, a conservative who had the support of traditional political parties, finished third, winning only in his [...]