Former rebel Gustavo Petro has narrowly won a runoff election in Colombia over a political outsider millionaire, ushering in a new era of politics by becoming the country’s first leftist president.
“I accept the result, as it should be, if we want our institutions to be firm,” Hernández said in a video on social media. “I sincerely hope that this decision is beneficial for everyone.”
“What I do think it shows is that the strategy of fear, hate and stigmatization towards the left no longer works as a policy to win voters,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst for Colombia at the firm International Crisis Group. Petro, 62, will be officially declared winner after a formal count that will take a few days. Historically, the preliminary results have coincided with the final ones.
Petro has proposed ambitious pension, tax, health and agricultural reforms and changes to how Colombia fights drug cartels and other armed groups. But he will have a tough time delivering on his promises as he does not have a majority in Congress, which is key to carrying out reforms.
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