The leftist candidate Gustavo Petro, winner of the first electoral round in Colombia, assured this Sunday that his victory is the defeat of the political project of President Iván Duque and Uribismo and he promised to win. “a real change”, against his rival in the second round, the populist Rodolfo Hernández.
Petro, who managed to 40.32% of the votes, will face Next June 19 in the second round, the engineer Rodolfo Hernández, a populist billionaire businessman who won 28.15% of the votes, in the pre-count at 99.95%.
It is the first time that the left wins an election in Colombia and the first time that Uribismo, the right-wing current that founded former president Álvaro Uribe is not here. among the proposals to choose from.
“The political parties allied to the government of Duque, his political project, has been defeated in Colombia,” he announced. Petro in his appearance after knowing the results in which he assured that “a period is ending, an era is ending”.
Petro managed to 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 he 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 leaving it fall at the feet, shoot yourself in the foot; there are changes that are not changes, they are suicides,” he stressed. Petro, who influenced that on June 19 Colombian society must choose what type of change he wants: “whether to kill ourselves or move forward.”
And he claimed that their proposal is “a real change, a change that allows us a much more prosperous new era, much more well-being”, remembering that they are also against corruption, but that offer concrete proposals.
“Corruption is not fought with TikTok phrases,” The former mayor of Bogotá, referring to the social network where Hernández, 77, has become most famous.
“Corruption is fought by risking one’s life. We have risked our lives to fight corruption. we are not here not to deceive with a speech, but to put the realities on the table and tell society where we are going, “he said. the candidate.
“Do we want more violence? Do we want more corruption? My opponent is imputed for corruption”, accused to Hernández, referring 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. He took more than two hours to go on stage after hearing the results, and he did so accompanied by the vice-presidential candidate, Francia Márquez, and his family, assured & oacute; They only need one million votes to win the second round.