Petro celebrates his victory and says that Duque’s political project and Uribism have been defeated in Colombia

The left candidate Gustavo Petrowinner of the first electoral round of Colombiaassured this Sunday that his victory is the defeat of the political project of President Iván Duque and Uribismo and promised “a real change”, against his rival in the second round, the populist Rodolfo Hernández.

Petrowho got 40.32% of the votes, will face the engineer on June 19 in the second round Rodolfo Hernandeza populist billionaire businessman who won 28.15% of the vote, in the pre-count at 99.95%.

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It is the first time that the left wins an election in Colombia and the first time that Uribismo, the right-wing current founded by former President Álvaro Uribe, is not among the proposals to be elected.

“The political parties allied to the Duque government, his political project, has been defeated in Colombia”ad Petro in his appearance after knowing the results in which he assured that “a period is ending, an era is ending”.

Colombia’s vice-presidential candidate, Francia Márquez, celebrates before candidate Gustavo Petro’s speech. (EFE/Mauricio Dueñas Castañeda).

Petro got some 8.5 million votes, some 2.5 million more than his rival, the former mayor of the medium-sized city of Bucaramanga.who, like him, has also presented himself as an option for “change” and has campaigned with speeches, with outbursts, with the fight against corruption that has been especially successful on his social networks.

”There may be changes that are picking up a drill bit and letting it fall at your feet, shooting yourself in the foot; there are changes that are not changes, they are suicides”, he stressed Petrowho indicated that on June 19 Colombian society must choose what type of change it wants: “whether to commit suicide or move forward.”

And he argued that his proposal is “a real change, a change that allows us a much more prosperous new era, much more well-being”, recalling that they are also against corruption, but that they offer concrete proposals.

The Colombian presidential candidate for the coalition of the Historical Pact, Gustavo Petro, and his running mate Francia Márquez, celebrate with their families at the party’s headquarters, in Bogotá, on May 29, 2022. (YURI CORTEZ / AFP).

“Corruption is not fought with TikTok phrases”announced the former mayor of Bogotá, referring to the social network where Hernandez77, has become more famous.

”Corruption is fought by risking one’s life. We have risked our lives to fight corruption. We are not here to deceive with a speech, but to put the realities on the table and tell society where we are going”, pronounced the candidate.

“Do we want more violence? Do we want more corruption? My adversary is accused of corruption”, accused Hernandezreferring to the case for which he is called to trial for alleged irregularities in the award of a contract during his term as mayor of Bucaramanga.

Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro greets his vice-presidential candidate, Francia Márquez, at the end of the first round of elections. (EFE/Mauricio Dueñas Castañeda).

Petrowho took more than two hours to go on stage after knowing the results and did so accompanied by the vice-presidential candidate, France Marquezand his family, assured that they only need one million votes to win the second round.

Source: Elcomercio