Now Vice President elected Francia Márquez (left) and President elected Gustavo Petro (right) doing the love hand sign in a public event. File photo: Colprensa.
The preliminary results on the electoral pre-count of the National Registry of Colombia reveal that presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, of the Historical Pact, is ahead of his opponent Rodolfo Hernández, of the League of Governors against Corruption. With 99.67% of the votes counted, the center-left politician, with 50.48%, obtained the advantage over Hernández, who partially accumulated 47.26%.
Petro tweeted at 5:11 p.m. Colombian time: “Today is a holiday for the people. Let us celebrate the first popular victory. May so much suffering be cushioned by the joy that today floods the heart of the homeland. This victory is for God and for the people and their history. Today is the day of the streets and the squares.”
Hoy es dia de fiesta para el pueblo. Que festeje la primera victoria popular. Que tantos sufrimientos se amortiguen en la alegria que hoy inunda el corazon de la Patria.
Esta victoria para Dios y para el Pueblo y su historia. Hoy es el dia de las calles y las plazas.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 19, 2022
Half an hour later, candidate Rodolfo Hernández acknowledged defeat, in a video broadcast on local media, and urged Petro to fight corruption, as he promised during the campaign.
Candidato @ingrodolfohdez reconoce que su propuesta fue ¨perdedora¨ en la segunda vuelta electoral #ColombiaDecide 🇨🇴. Acepta el resultado electoral y pide a @petrogustavo que sepa dirigir el país. #ColombiaDecide pic.twitter.com/BH8aSIfUny
— Rolando Segura (@rolandoteleSUR) June 19, 2022
“This is for our grandmothers and grandfathers, the women, the youth, the LGTBIQ+ people, indigenous people, peasants, workers, victims, my black community, those who resisted and those who are no longer here…throughout Colombia. Today we begin to write a new history!” wrote Francia Márquez, vice president-elect, on Twitter at 5:47 p.m.
Esto es por nuestras abuelas y abuelos, las mujeres, los jóvenes, las personas LGTBIQ+, los indígenas, los campesinos, los trabajadores, las víctimas, mi pueblo negro, los que resistieron y los que ya no están… Por toda Colombia. ¡Hoy empezamos a escribir una nueva historia!
— Francia Márquez Mina (@FranciaMarquezM) June 19, 2022
From Venezuela, the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, tweeted: “Colombia spoke, the profound Colombia, the one that hurts in the Bolivarian sense, seeking its peace and with it the peace of an entire region. We embrace the great victory of a people that have resisted a thousand and one attacks by narco politics, congratulations.” Then he added: “I would like to be brief, but the victories of the people give me immense joy. Colombia voted for a change, we wish the greatest success to President Petro and Vice President Márquez, to the Colombian people: a Bolivarian hug. United We Will Win!”
Habló Colombia, la Colombia profunda, la q duele en el sentimiento Bolivariano, buscando su paz y con ella La Paz de toda una región, abrazamos esa gran victoria de un pueblo que ha resistido uno y mil ataques de la narco política, felicidades. Unidos Nosotros Venceremos
— Diosdado Cabello R (@dcabellor) June 19, 2022
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The outgoing President of Colombia, Iván Duque, also tweeted: “I called Gustavo Petro to congratulate him as president-elect of the Colombians. We agreed to meet in the coming days to start a harmonious, institutional and transparent transition.”
Llamé a @PetroGustavo para felicitarlo como presidente electo de los colombianos. Acordamos reunirnos en los próximos días para iniciar una transición armónica, institucional y transparente.
— Iván Duque 🇨🇴 (@IvanDuque) June 19, 2022
At 4:00 p.m.(local time) this Sunday, the 102,152 voting polls that were set up at the voting centers in Colombia and abroad were closed. From that moment on, the pre-count began. In the same way, the general vote count began, which takes place in a public hearing at the National Electoral Council (CNE) and whose definitive result will be known in the next few hours.
The pre-count is informative but has no binding legal value, while the general count done at the CNE will yield the official results that will be known in the coming days.
Center-left Petro, 62, and former mayor of Bogotá, is accompanied by Francia Márquez as the candidate for the vice presidency. In the first round which was held on May 29, they were the most-voted duo, obtaining 40.32% of votes (8,527,768 votes).
For his behalf, the independent Hernández, 77, former mayor of Bucaramanga, has Marelen Castillo as his vice-presidential candidate. In the first round they obtained 28.15% of the votes (5,953,209 votes).
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/DD
