Colombia elects peace-pact critic to lead
BOGOTA, Colombia — Ivan Duque, the young conservative protege of a powerful former Colombian president, was elected Colombia’s next leader Sunday after promising to roll back a still fragile peace accord.
The 41-year-old Duque captured 54 percent of the votes, putting him more than 12 points ahead of leftist former guerrilla Gustavo Petro in a tense election runoff that divided many Colombians during a critical juncture in the nation’s history. More than 97 percent of polling stations were reporting results.
The prematurely graying Duque galvanized voters by promising to change parts of the accord with leftist rebels but not “shred it to pieces.”
When he takes office in August, Duque will be Colombia’s youngest president in more than a century.
“The peace we all dream of demands corrections,” he told hundreds of jubilant supporters. “So that victims are the true center of the process and so that there is justice, reparations and no repetition.”
The new president will inherit a country still scarred by more than five decades of bloody conflict and grappling with soaring coca production. Former guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are struggling to reinsert themselves in civilian life in a nation where many people remain hesitant to forgive. Vast swaths of remote territory remain under the control of violent drug mafias and residual rebel bands.
“Undoubtedly, for the peace process, this is an important test,” said Patricia Munoz, a professor of political science at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogota.
It was the first presidential election since the signing of the peace agreement ending Latin America’s longest-running conflict and was as much about the accord as it was deeply entrenched issues such as corruption and inequality.
Petro took his loss in stride, refusing to call it a defeat and saying that “for now” he and his supporters won’t form a government — echoing the words used by socialist revolutionary Hugo Chavez following his failed 1992 coup against Venezuela’s government. Six years later Chavez was elected president, setting the stage for a surge of the left throughout Latin America.
He challenged Duque to break with his hard-line allies and promised to transform his considerable following into a vocal opposition that would push for social improvements and stand by the peace accord.
“Those eight million Colombians are not going to let Colombia return to war,” Petro said to thunderous applause from supporters chanting “Resistance!”
Colombia’s peace process to end years of conflict among leftist rebels, the state and rightwing paramilitary groups that left more than 250,000 people dead is considered largely irreversible. More than 7,000 rebels have surrendered their weapons and started new lives as farmers, community leaders and journalists. Last year the rebels launched a new political party and will soon occupy 10 seats in congress.
But peace remains contentious, and Duque pledged throughout his campaign to make changes that would deliver “peace with justice.” Through constitutional changes or by decree, he could proceed with proposals such as not allowing ex-combatants guilty of crimes against humanity to take political office until they have served time.
The current agreement allows most rebels to avoid jail, a sore point for many Colombians. Duque’s detractors warn that his victory could throw an already delicate peace process into disarray.
Duque is the son of a former governor and energy minister who friends say has harbored presidential aspirations since he was a child. The father of three almost two decades ago entered the public sector as an adviser to then-Finance Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who is the current president. Duque later moved to Washington, where he spent more than a decade at the Inter-American Development Bank, first as an adviser for three Andean countries and later as chief of the institution’s cultural division.
It was during that time that Duque formed a close relationship with former President Alvaro Uribe, an influential conservative man who is both adored and detested by legions of Colombians.
Duque’s low-profile life as a Washington suburbanite came to end in 2014 when, with Uribe’s backing he was elected to Colombia’s Senate. Seated beside his mentor in the opulent Senate chamber, Duque earned a reputation as a like-minded security hawk who did his homework and earned the respect of colleagues across the political spectrum.
He quickly climbed the ranks of Uribe’s Democratic Center party, clenching the group’s presidential nomination just four years later. Information for this article was contributed by Cesar Garcia of The Associated Press.