Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández, a duel for the anti-system vote in Colombia (what will happen in the second round)

The historic but bittersweet victory for the left and the entry into play an eccentric millionaire cleared the way to the presidential runoff in Colombia. It will be an unexpected duel for the anti-system vote to the detriment of the traditional forces.

The former guerrilla and left-wing senator Gustavo Petro he won the first round on Sunday with 8.5 million votes, equivalent to 40.3% of the votes, and on June 19 he will face the engineer in the second round Rodolfo Hernandez (28.5%), former mayor of Bucaramanga and an ideologically indecipherable tycoon who displaced the right in the fight for power.

LOOK: Colombia: the electoral hurricane that swept away traditional politicians (including Uribismo)

With diametrically opposed speeches, the candidates defeated the conservative and liberal elites that ruled the country for two centuries and they will seek to capitalize on Colombians’ nonconformity with the ruling class.

Impoverished (39%) by the pandemic that sparked massive protests, the uptick in violence and corruption, the country of 50 million inhabitants voted with renewed motivations after four years of the unpopular government of the right-wing Iván Duque.

The right looks into the abyss

More than 21 million voters participated in a day that turned out to be a slap in the face for the right and the traditional partiesrelegated for the first time in the first presidential round.

LOOK: Who is Gustavo Petro, the “revolutionary” who wants to govern Colombia? | PROFILE

The elite historically in power is “losing ground” and there is “a country that is changing,” analyzed Eugénie Richard, a professor at the Externado University.

Result of the elections in Colombia. (AFP).

Petro (62 years old) and Hernandez (77) arrived at the second round wrapped in the yearning for change and denying corruption.

LOOK: Rodolfo Hernández, the outspoken populist who surprises and goes to the second round in Colombia | PROFILE

For the analyst Alejo Vargas, The candidacies against the ruling class triumphed in social sectors that “do not like political parties”.

The conservatives and liberals “allied with the government of Duque”, who came to the presidency in 2018 sponsored by the former right-wing president Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010)“they have been defeated”, he celebrated Petro. Entangled in legal trouble, Uribe ceased to be the great political figure in Colombia after two decades of prominence.

With a kitchen as a backdrop and through social networks where he is very active, Hernández celebrated that “they lost the sheaves that they believed would be the government forever.”

half celebration

Now, the former guerrilla’s campaign will return to the board to get around two million additional votes.

“We must build a campaign aimed at urban youth who went out to protest in past years, just as (Gabriel) Boric did in Chile,” points out Alexander Gamba, a professor at the Faculty of Sociology at the Santo Tomás University, who highlights the “low turnout” of those under 25 in Sunday’s elections.

for shrimp, In the remainder of the campaign, Petro will have to modify his speech to achieve a broader call:

“He has to stop stating that he is the anti-elite candidate and show himself as the one who can defend democracy, because many of Rodolfo’s positions are openly anti-democratic”adds the sociologist.

The outsider of this contest has raised criticism for his sexist positions regarding the political participation of women or his anti-immigrant discourse regarding Venezuelans.

“That she supports from home, the woman involved in the government, people do not like it”, he stated in recent days when referring to the role of the first ladies.

tough opponent

Always on the opposite bank of Uribe and Duque, Petro focused his campaign on pointing out the “continuism” embodied in Gutiérrez, whom the polls gave as the second favorite.

But now, before Hernández, he will have “the challenge of reinventing his entire narrative, which was implicitly directed towards Federico Gutiérrez, saying ‘he is the candidate of Uribismo, I am the candidate of change,'” Richard adds.

“This entire narrative is weakened” because Hernández “is not a traditional man of politics either,” holds.

A campaign source Petro admitted before the first round that The former mayor of Bucaramanga would be “the most uncomfortable rival” in his plans.

According to surveys by the firm Invamer, Hernández has been gaining supporters for the ballot against Petroto the point of being practically even with 47% of the votes for the civil engineer and 50% for the congressman, who until a week ago seemed solid on his way to the presidency.

Vargas foresees a “scenario similar to that of four years ago”, when Duque met the rejection and fear of Petro and won in the second round.

“Added Rodolfo’s vote [Hernández] and Frederick’s [Gutiérrez] they already have 11 million”, above the 8.5 million that Petro got on Sunday, he anticipates.

Source: Elcomercio