Leftist Gustavo Petro wins first round of Colombian Presidential vote

Colombian leftist Presidential candidate Gustavo Petro and Vice-Presidential candidate Francia Márquez

In an historic turn for the Colombian Left, leftist candidate Gustavo Petro of the Pacto Histórico por Colombia (PHxC) won the most votes in the first round of Colombia's Presidential elections placing well ahead of second place real-estate tycoon Rodolfo Hernández.

Petro took 40.44% of the vote while Hernández took 27.99%.

Petro has been running a campaign focused on state intervention in the economy, tackling poverty and heavily taxing the rich.

Colombian voters massively repudiated the candidate of the incumbent President Iván Duque’s party with Federico Gutiérrez getting only 23.95% of the vote.

The second round of the vote will be held June 19. A Petro victory would represent a titanic shift for Colombia that is plagued by violence and murders of Indigenous, social movement, left and union leaders and activists.