Gustavo Petro, former leftist guerrilla, wins Colombia's presidential elections

The Colombian left will gain access to the Presidency of Colombia for the first time after the triumph obtained this Sunday in the second round of elections by former M-19 guerrilla Gustavo Petro, from the Historical Pact coalition, his third attempt.

In the pre-count and with 99.84% of the polling stations informed, Petro obtained 11,276,994 votes, equivalent to 50.49%, while his rival, businessman Rodolfo Hernández, from the Anti-Corruption Governors League, reached 10,558,665. votes (47.26%), excludes the National Registry in its bulletin number 28.

Petro's advantage over Hernández is 718,329 votes, which is equivalent to 3.24%, higher than what the polls of voting intention predicted, which predicted a technical tie, some of them with less than a percentage point of difference.

In this way, Petro, 62, will succeed the president of Colombia, Iván Duque, from next August 7, and will govern in the period 2022-2026.