Colombia Elects Former Guerrilla Petro as First Progressive President

Colombian left-wing presidential candidate Gustavo Petro of the Historic Pact coalition shows his ballot before casting his vote at a polling station during the second round of the presidential election in Bogota, Colombia, on June 19, 2022. Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters

BOGOTA/BUCARAMANGA—Leftist Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, who has vowed social and economic change, won Colombia’s presidency on Sunday, the first progressive to do so in the country’s history.

Petro, 62, beat construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of more than 700,000 votes.