Ex-rebel, businessman to vie in Colombia presidential runoff

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian voters opted for a dramatic change in presidential politics, choosing a leftist former rebel and an outsider populist businessman to advance to a runoff election in June amid hopes a new face can pull them out of the economic damage from the pandemic.

Leftist Sen. Gustavo Petro led the field of six candidates Sunday with just over 40% of the votes, while real estate tycoon Rodolfo Hernández, who has no close ties to any political parties, finished second with more than 28%, election officials reported.

Both are far from the conservatives and moderates that have long governed the South American country.

Petro, the front-runner throughout the campaign, could become Colombia’s first head of state from the left, which for years has been marginalized for its perceived association with the nation’s armed conflict. Hernández, whose showing surprised many, has been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump for his anti-establishment rhetoric.

They will face off June 19 amid the same polarized environment and growing discontent over increasing inequality and inflation that shadowed the election’s first round. A candidate needed 50% of the votes to win outright in the opening round.

There has been a series of leftist political victories in Latin America as people seek change at a time of dissatisfaction with the economic situation. Chile, Peru and Honduras elected leftist presidents in 2021, and in Brazil, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is leading the polls for this year’s presidential election. Mexico elected a leftist president in 2018.

Looking at areas where Hernández won in some of Colombia’s most traditional heartland departments, “the rejection of the status quo even among many of the most conservative Colombians … really does show a disgust with the traditional workings of Colombian politics,” said Adam Isacson, an expert on Colombia at the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.

Petro’s main…