Colombians go to the polls this Sunday (29) to choose a new president

This Sunday (29), more than 39 million voters will go to the polls in Colombia for the first round of the presidential elections in the country. The next Colombian chief executive will be in office between 2022 and 2026.

A survey by the Centro Nacional de Consultoria, commissioned by the newspaper “Semana” and released on the 19th, indicates the left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro as the favorite in the first round, with 35.8% support.

Also according to this poll, Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez and Rodolfo Hernández, linked to the right, are the next places and “practically in a technical tie”, with 20.8% and 19.1% of the votes, respectively.

Following are Sergio Fajardo, John Milton Rodriguez, Ingrid Betancourt (who withdrew her candidacy last week) and Enrique Gomez.

Because voting is not mandatory in the country, the State grants benefits to voters who participated in the election, such as half a day off with pay and discounts on passport processing.

who are the favorites

Gustavo Petro

A leader of the left, Petro is recognized as a former member of the M-19 guerrilla group (April 19 Movement), demobilized in the 1990s. His militant past made the public life of the first place controversial.

Born in the municipality of Ciénaga de Oro, in the department of Córdoba, on the Caribbean coast, in 1960, he entered public life at a young age, at the age of 21, as a municipal councilor, a sort of councilor. It was also at this time that he approached the M-19.

This year’s election is Petro’s third bid for the presidential seat. Previously, the candidate was a senator and mayor of the Colombian capital, Bogotá.

Federico “Fico” Gutierrez

Representative of the Colombian right, Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez focused his campaign on “preserving democracy and liberties”, on security-related issues and on criticism of Gustavo Petro.

The youngest of the six candidates, aged 48, was perfect from the city of Medellin before running for president. He ended his term with an 82% approval rating, according to the Invame poll.

He was born in Medellín, Antioquia, and grew up in Belén – a lower-middle class neighborhood in Medellín. He studied Civil Engineering at the University of Medellín and is a specialist in Senior Management and Political Science at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.

Rodolfo Hernández

With a beginning of political life full of controversies, the third place in Colombia’s presidential elections calls himself “Engineer Rodolfo Hernández”.

Born in Piedecuesta, in the department of Santander, in 1945, he is a businessman in the same region, located in the northeast of Colombia.

In 1992 he was elected councilor, but, without any satisfaction, he never took office. Years later, in 2016, he was elected mayor, although he did not complete the term due to a series of disciplinary sanctions imposed by the Attorney General of Colombia due to scandals. THE CNN contacted Hernández’s representatives about the events, but received no response.

*With information from CNN