Left-Wing Candidate Petro Comes Out Ahead in First Round of Colombia's Presidential Election

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - Right-wing presidential candidate Federico Gutierrez will not make it into the second round of the presidential election in Colombia, according to results from the National Electoral Council released after 91.66 percent of the ballots were counted.

Leftist candidate Gustavo Petro is coming ahead in the first round and currently has 40.44 percent of the vote, while businessman Rodolfo Hernandez has 27.99 percent. Gutierrez has 23.95 percent of the vote.

Colombians went to the polls on Sunday to choose their next president. A runoff will be held on June 19 since none of the contenders appears to have won over 50 percent of the vote.

Later in the day, Gutierrez said that he will vote for Hernandez in the second round.

"I want to express publicly that we do not want to lose the country and that is why… I will vote for Rodolfo on June 19," Gutierrez said on Sunday.

In Petro succeeds, it will be the first time in Colombia's history that a left-wing political movement moves into the Casa de Nariño (the presidential palace). Petro, 62, is an economist and former guerilla who previously served as Bogota's mayor and was twice forced to seek exile internationally. He’s accompanied in his third run for president by Francia Marquez, 40, an Afro-Colombian environmental and human rights activist.

During his election campaign, Petro promised to restore diplomatic ties with Caracas, which were broken in 2019 after Colombia ceased recognizing the elected government of Venezuela in favor of the self-proclaimed Juan Guaido. Colombia has been a staunch US ally for decades, and Joe Biden has even designated the country as major non-NATO ally.

Petro has also pledged to review the conditions of Colombia's free trade agreement with the United States.

Colombia's Incumbent President Ivan Duque is not eligible to run for a second term.