REACTION: Gustavo Petro Elected President in Colombia
By
AQ Editors
The former rebel defeated Rodolfo Hernández in the June 19 runoff.
With 50.4% of the votes, Gustavo Petro was elected Colombia's first left-wing president. His running mate, Francia Márquez, also marks the first time an Afro-Colombian woman will take the title of vice president. Runner-up Rodolfo Hernández—with 47.3% of the votes—conceded, saying his acceptance was a necessary gesture "if we want our institutions to stay strong." AQ asked observers to share their reaction. Mauricio Cárdenas, former finance minister of Colombia, senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University Petro’s victory was...
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