Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 28 May 2018

Conservative Duque leading Colombia vote but runoff likely

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO In the final days before the
JOSHUA GOODMAN vote, Petro accused offi-
Associated Press cials of failing to address a
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) voting software glitch that
— Results for Colombia’s he said could lead to fraud.
first presidential election He reiterated those con-
since the signing of an his- cerns Sunday after casting
toric peace accord were his vote, urging citizens to
trickling in Sunday following document any irregularities
a contentious campaign with their cellphones.
in which voters no longer His warning of fraud led to
focused on defeating left- an outcry among his com-
ist rebels weighed issues petitors and a rare intrusion
corruption, inequality and in the campaign from out-
crime. Preliminary tallies going President Juan Man-
with 85 percent of polling uel Santos, who said ear-
stations reporting put for- lier in the week that “leftist
mer senator Ivan Duque in extremists are the same as
first place with about 39.7 right-wing extremists: They
percent of the vote. The invent frauds where they
race for second place was don’t exist.”
tight between leftist Gus- Aside from the economy,
tavo Petro and former Me- Petro and Duque differ on
dellin mayor Sergio Fajardo. the peace accord, which
Conservative Duque, the Ivan Duque, presidential candidate for the Democratic Center, gives a thumbs after voting during has been slow to be imple-
protégé of President Alvaro the presidential election in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, May 27, 2018. mented and remains con-
Uribe, the chief critic of the Associated Press troversial among many
peace deal, has led polls ple in at least one site — a right of Colombia’s politi- himself as a “strong adver- Colombians who believe
throughout the campaign legacy perhaps of when cal spectrum, with Duque’s sary” of the neighboring it granted overly generous
and is promising to amend voting centers were tar- critics cautioning that his country’s current president, terms to demobilized guer-
important aspects of the geted by leftist rebels who presidency would be tan- Nicolas Maduro, but his rillas. Petro supports the ac-
accord like ensuring that considered the political sys- tamount to a constitution- early ties to Chavez have cord while Duque has said
drug trafficking is not an tem a sham. ally barred third term for dogged him throughout it needs “correcting.” ‘’If he
amnestied crime. Among the early voters Uribe. Though hugely pop- the campaign. wins, he has an opportunity
Petro had led the race for was Rodrigo Londono, the ular among Colombians Wanda Rincon, 25, said she to bridge some of these
a spot in a June run-off if former leader of the de- for improving security and had been leaning toward divides in Colombia,” said
Duque is unable to secure mobilized Revolutionary weakening illegal armed Petro until a few weeks Michael Shifter, president
the more than 50 percent Armed Forces of Colom- groups, Uribe also presided ago. She likes his policies of the Inter-American Dia-
of votes required to win in bia, whose ex-combatants over grave human rights on the environment and logue, referring to Duque.
the first round. His anti-es- have formed a new politi- violations by the military. support for the peace pro- “But the big unknown is
tablishment message has cal party. They put forward Meanwhile, Petro and his cess but said that she was what Uribe’s role will be.”
galvanized youth voters Londono as their presi- populist platform have turned off by his polarizing With Colombia’s political
upset over corruption and dential candidate, but he drawn comparisons from rhetoric and decided to polls notoriously unreliable,
income inequality. Critics dropped out after experi- critics to the late Venezu- support Fajardo instead. there’s still room for an up-
have warned the former encing heart issues. elan socialist leader Hugo Fajardo has been credited set with candidates like
guerrilla and ex-Bogota He said it was his first time Chavez, who Petro once with transforming Medel- Fajardo and former Vice
mayor’s rise could push voting in a presidential admired. He brought lin from a hotbed of crime President German Vargas
Colombia dangerously to- election. “It’s very moving Chavez to Colombia in into a growing tourist des- Lleras trailing close behind.
ward the left. because this is the fruit of a 1994 shortly after the Ven- tination. “They all have Vargas Lleras is pledging to
Long lines of voters gath- path that Colombians are ezuelan paratrooper was good proposals, but it’s a take a tough stance on re-
ered in Bogota outside poll- building,” he said. released from jail, where he question of character and maining security challeng-
ing centers on an overcast The election has sparked was sent for staging a mili- having the experience to es and create more than 1
day and police frisked peo- fears on both the left and tary coup. Petro describes implement them,” she said. million new jobs.q