Gustavo Petro Elected Colombia’s Next President

Today, Colombian voters elected Gustavo Petro as the next president of Colombia, along with his running mate Francia ‘Márquez Mina as vice president, beating Rodolfo Hernández and running mate Marelen Castillo. With almost 100% of voting sites reporting, Petro won with approximately 50.5% of the vote, compared to approximately 47.25% of the vote for Hernandez.

Gustavo Petro has been serving in Colombia’s senate after losing the 2018 presidential elections to current President Ivan Duque. Earlier, Petro served as the mayor of Bogotá, and in his youth, was a member of the M-19 guerilla group. Vice President-elect Francia Marquez is a social activist known for her fight both for feminist issues and against mining interests.

Rodolfo Hernandez is a successful real estate developer and one-time mayor of the city of Bucaramanga who ran on an anti-corruption platform. His running mate, Marelen Castillo is a vice rector of a prominent Catholic university in Colombia.

Finance Colombia presents immediate post-election analysis in video and podcast format.