Colombia's Left may win presidency in a historic first

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The front-runner for Colombia's presidential election has secured his nomination by the left-wing Historic Pact coalition, putting the country on a track that may mark a historic first.

Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla in the M-19 rebel group, may become Colombia's first leftist president.

Petro won more than 80% in the Historic Pact primary, while his main contenders for the presidency, right-winger Federico Gutierrez and Centrist Sergio Fajardo, won 54% and just under 33% of the votes of their respective groupings.

As Colombia's Congress is split among a number of parties, presidents are forced to build big-tent coalitions if they want to pass legislation.

In the last elections in 2018, Petro lost to incumbent President Ivan Duque, in the second round.

The Left's first president?

Colombia has always been ruled by the political right, yet polls show that Petro stands a real chance of winning.

Bogota's distrust of the left is associated with its experience with FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), which the US removed from its list of foreign terrorist groups a few months ago, and other rebel groups that fought the government in a six-decade-long civil conflict.

Since Petro's first run for president in 2010, two controversies took place that won him additional fans and enemies:

The first is his relationship with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and his successor Nicolas Maduro. Petro was captivated by Venezuela's ideals, but later distanced himself from Chavez. However, when Petro attended his funeral in 2013, he wondered aloud "Why did I distance myself from him?"

The second is his time as mayor of Bogota, when he challenged the establishment during his administration and was bent on standing up against the ruling class, despite many issues and lawsuits, through which he made a number of enemies.

Colombia already enjoys a stressed relationship with its anti-imperialist neighbor Venezuela due to the US using the country to exercise further pressure on Caracas. A shift in Colombia's ruling coalition may bring about a geopolitical shift in Latin America.