Petro retains the advantage for the Colombian election, but an anti-corruption candidate rises

With just a week left before the presidential election in Colombia, Gustavo Petro, of the left-wing coalition Historical Pact, is firmly in the polls.

He’s the candidate with the biggest voting goals, far from the others, but still does not exceed the 50% required to win the first round.

This provides more relevance to the candidates in second place, where there is a technical relationship between the two Colombian center-right exponents, according to the latest polls by the Latin American Strategic Center for Geopolitics (Celag).

Petro leads electoral preferences with 45.1% voting intentions, according to Celag, but valid vote projection reaches 48%, just two points short of what was needed to win the first round. Other pollsters give him a little, between 40% and 41%, but always first.

right second

Behind him is a technical tie. On one side is the ascending Rodolfo Hernandeza right-wing populist rising to the polls with a speech against “corruption” and the leaders, whom he accuses of being “thieves”.

At the age of 76, this former mayor of Bucaramanga usually releases a message of people’s anger against the political leadership on social networks. now have 20.4% intend to voteaccording to Celag, and rising.

Just yesterday, Ingrid Betancourt he resigned his candidacy in these elections and announced his support for Hernández. “I have made the decision to support the only candidate who today can defeat the system” of corruption, he said at an event in Barranquilla.

Hernández appears stuck Federico Gutierrezright-wing coalition candidate backed by former President Álvaro Uribe, with 20.1%.

Its growth has stalled in recent weeks, and Hernández, who is directly competing for that spot, has a lot to do with it.

Sergio Fajardothe centrist who was emerging as Petro’s main rival, began to fall short of voting intentions and is currently almost gets 4.9%.

Petro targets the Duque government

Petro, prior to these data giving him an election victory next Sunday, deepened his attack against Ivan Duque’s pro-right government, and He even compared him to Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro.

“We are experiencing a dictatorship, a regime that is identical, similar to that of the neighboring country,” he said, referring to Venezuela.

“What is the difference between Duke and Maduro, I asked? They are twin brothers in the same regime, with the same action, with the same economic system, with the same political bias. There they kill young people, here they kill more young people because they just come out to protest, ”Petro said, trying to capture the popular discomfort of Colombians.

The candidate of the left – or middle -left for some – thus pointed to the hottest news point in Colombia.

Duque ends his term high citizen disapproval that exceeds 80%. Unemployment, corruption and severe insecurity are particularly questionable.

On Sunday, May 29, it will be known whether Petro combines his advantage and wins the first round or, as everyone suggests, there will be a ballot on June 19 to identify the president of Colombia.