Colombia elects former rebel Gustavo Petro to become country’s first leftist president

Former rebel Gustavo Petro is set to be Colombia’s first leftist president after voters handed him a slim victory in Sunday’s runoff election against Rodolfo Hernández, a political outsider and populist.

Petro had garnered 50.47% of the votes to Hernandez’s 47.25% on Sunday evening, according to preliminary results released by election authorities.

“Today is a day of celebration for the people. Let them celebrate the first popular victory,” Petro, a current senator and former mayor of Bogota, tweeted after the results came in. “May so many sufferings be cushioned in the joy that today floods the heart of the Homeland.”

The former guerilla’s victory is a sign of rising discontent in Colombia and the rest of Latin America, as it comes after Chile, Peru, and Honduras elected leftist presidents in 2021.

Nearly half of Colombians say that their local economy is getting worse, while 80% say corruption is widespread in the government, according to a recent Gallup poll.

By NC ScoutPublished On: June 21, 2022Categories: UncategorizedComments Off

About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .