Gustavo Petro, the ex-rebel front runner in Colombian vote, could shake US ties

If anti-establishment candidate becomes president, he will be the country’s first ever leftist head of state

Petro aims to renegotiate US free-trade agreement to focus on local producers; he’s also criticised US drug policy and wants to help farmers find alternatives to growing coca, plant used to make cocaine

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A supporter of Colombian left-wing presidential candidate Gustavo Petro poses with a sign showing his image shortly before the election. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:13pm, 29 May 2022

Fabian Espinel last year helped organise concerts in the streets of Bogotá, as young people protested against police violence and government plans to increase taxes on lower income Colombians.

Now, as his country heads into its presidential election on Sunday, he walks the streets of the capital’s working-class sectors handing out fliers and painting murals in support of Gustavo Petro, the front-runner candidate who could become Colombia’s first leftist head of state.

“Young people in this country are stuck. We hope Petro can change that.” said Espinel, who lost his job as an event planner during the pandemic and received no compensation from his company.

“We need an economic model that is different than the one that has been failing us for years.”

Surrounded by bodyguards holding bulletproof shields, presidential candidate Gustavo Petro speaks to supporters during a campaign rally this month. Photo: AP

Colombians will pick from six candidates in a ballot being held amid a generalised feeling the country is heading in the wrong direction. The latest opinion polls suggest Petro, a former rebel, could get 40 per cent of the votes, with a 15-point lead over his closest rival. But the Senator needs 50 per cent to avoid a run-off election in June against the second-place finisher.