Former leftist guerrilla wins Colombian presidential primary

Gustavo Petro, the front-runner in Colombia's upcoming presidential election, secured the nomination of the left-wing Historic Pact coalition by a wide margin during Sunday’s primary election. 

Petro, a former guerrilla with the M-19 paramilitary group, won the left’s nomination by more than 80% and will face centrist Sergio Farjardo and conservative Federico Gutierrez, both former mayors of Medellin, in the South American country’s May 29 presidential election, France 24 reported.

Although the 61-year-old first ran for president in 2018, he was defeated by right-wing Ivan Duque – Colombia’s current president. He is, however, on track to become Colombia’s first left-wing president in history and polls suggest that his lead over the other candidates may be wide enough for him to win outright in the first round come May.

Colombians appear to be fed up with how their elected leaders – historically center-right – have directed the country in recent years and anti-government protests raged across major cities last year, leaving dozens of protestors dead.

Many of those protesting have said that the high levels of economic inequality in Colombia angers them and thus Petro’s wealth redistribution promise has been widely popular.

However, as the 2016 FARC peace deal continues to fall apart and violence appears to be increasing along the Venezuelan border, voters will have to make peace with Petro’s previous M-19 rebel affiliation. For many who argue that Colombia’s problems stem from the nation’s war with the guerrillas, such a concession won’t be possible.