Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's EU delegate: Belgium categorically refused to touch Russian assets in its banks for fear of a Russian judicial backlash
Al Mayadeen's EU delegate: The European Union has failed to reach an agreement on the use of Russian assets frozen in Belgium
Trump: Will be seeing land action in Venezuela soon
Trump: first question to Xi will be fentanyl
Trump on reports of B1 bombers near Venezuela: Reports are not accurate
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The death toll from the airstrike that targeted the town of Arabsalim in South Lebanon has risen to two, in addition to four injuries
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: An Israeli airstrike targeted the town of Arabsalim
Putin on new sanctions against Russia: Russia's energy sector remains confident, though some losses are expected
Putin calls talk of supplying Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv an attempt at escalation
Putin says he discussed with Trump the impact of the situation with Russian oil supplies on global prices, including in the United States

Colombia's left takes the lead moving to 2nd round of elections

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 30 May 2022 10:12
  • 2 Shares
4 Min Read

Colombia's left make a historic advance in the first round of the Presidential elections with the right-wing candidate is edged out.

  • x
  • Colombia's left takes the lead in Presidential elections first round
    Colombia's left takes the lead in Presidential elections first round

Colombians voted for change at the ballots in the Presidential elections. On Sunday, Gustavo Petro, 62-year-old leftist ex-guerrilla and former Bogota mayor, took the lead by accounting for 40.3% of the votes after 99% of votes have been counted.

Petro is leading in the presidential race with a possibly historic ending that could make him Colombia’s first-ever leftist President in recent history. Meanwhile, Rodolfo Hernandez comes in second. Hernandez, a 77-year-old millionaire and himself an ex-mayor, is running as an independent and snatched second place with 28% of the votes. With that, Hernandez denies Petro the majority and now the two will take to the second round of elections later in June.

Hernandez, who ran on an anti-corruption platform, pushed out right-wing candidate Federico Gutierrez, former mayor of Medellin and the political successor of the current residing President. 

Petro vowed Sunday to uphold his word and work to establish real change focusing on social justice and economic stability.

"A company cannot grow if society is impoverished. Profits cannot grow sustainably if the majority of the population (suffers from) hunger," he said. 

The tainting of democracy and the left

Related News

Colombian President Petro vows legal action over US drug allegations

US announces 8th strike on alleged narcotics boat, 1st in the Pacific

In his leading speech, Petro took the plaster off Hernandez, who had said that the Colombian people are "serious about ending corruption as a system of government”, and pointed out that he is under investigation for a graft allegation.  Petro asked the people that sought radical changes: “Is this what we want?”

Hernandez, who ran on anti-establishment and populist rhetoric, said that the results showed Colombians were "serious about ending corruption as a system of government." Gutierrez, despite being edged out, urged his voters to support Hernandez in his face-off with Petro as he taints the left, once again, as a "guerilla machine threatening democracy."

"We do not want to lose the country and we will not put at risk the future of Colombia, of our families, our children," Gutierrez said.

Colombia has been marked by deep-rooted conflict, however, with the left receiving 40.3% of the votes, accounting for more than 8.5 million Colombians, claims of the people fearing the political left were obliterated. On the other hand, push-back against Petro also showed that rivals found benefit in painting him as a radical.

Some 12,000 polling stations were open for eight hours Sunday. The government deployed an additional 220,000 security personnel throughout the country, bringing the total number to 300,000, tasked with ensuring a peaceful electoral day, supervised by 690,000 observers to address security concerns as elections are held just one year after a security crackdown on street protesters.

The millions of Colombians that had voted for Petro, hope that he will address poverty, violence, and corruption.

Hernandez, who, allegedly, is not aligned to a political party but has been supported by the right-wing candidate, garnered 5.9 million votes and Gutierrez 5.0 million.

Ivan Duque is leaving office with record disapproval as he comes to the end of his four-year term. Petro, who lost to Duque in 2018, had come on top of the first round of elections and will face a difficult second round as Hernandez and Gutierrez form an electoral coalition against the left.

40% of the 50 million Colombian people have lived in poverty for decades as the country has been facing high levels of income inequality according to the World Bank. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation radically leaving one in every six people unemployed in the cities.

Read more: US confirms Colombia "major" non-NATO ally
  • Colombia
  • Left
  • Right-Wing
  • Presidential elections
  • Colombian Election

Most Read

From previous scenes of the Qassam Brigades targeting an Israeli D9 bulldozer with a Yassin 105 shell, east of Deir al-Balah. (Military Media of the Qassam Brigades)

US knew fatal Rafah blast cause was not Hamas op., says journalist

  • Politics
  • 20 Oct 2025
Abu Hamza, the spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, during a speech televised on October 22, 2025 (Al-Quds Brigades Military Media)

Al-Quds Brigades' Abu Hamza mourns leaders, vows continued resistance

  • Politics
  • 22 Oct 2025
A woman with her purchased groceries walks out from an underground market, in Beijing, Wednesday, August 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Global brands in China face pressure from rising local rivals

  • Economy
  • 17 Oct 2025
US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

  • Africa
  • 23 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Palestinians walk through the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza City, Thursday, October 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Politics

Unexploded ordnances in Gaza may take 30 yrs to clear, aid group says

Police stand guard before a press conference on the extradition of “Tren de Aragua” gang members from the United States, at the a high-security prison where they are being held in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, October 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Félix)
Politics

US immigration policies shaped by false 'Venezuela gang' threats

Demonstrators march at a protest opposing "Operation Midway Blitz" and the presence of ICE, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in Chicago (AP)
Politics

HRW slams federal agents use of excessive force in Illinois protests

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets with the Lebanese Prime Minister Nawwaf Salam ahead of a Cabinet meeting in the Presidential Palace, Baabda, Lebanon, October 23, 2025 (X/ @LBPresidency)
Politics

Lebanon OKs sea demarcation with Cyprus, restarts Block 8 exploration

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS