Who Will Become Colombia’s Next President?

Back in January, I wrote an article for the Fair Observer in the run up to the presidential in election in Colombia titled “Will Colombia’s Next President Overcome the Challenges of Peace?” In it, I argued that the controversial peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed by President Juan Manuel Santos would be the determining factor of the 2018 presidential election. Likewise, I wrote that former Vice-President German Vargas Lleras would successfully manage to occupy the country’s right-wing political space and win the presidency given the young age and relative inexperience of then-Senator Ivan Duque.

Back then, Duque, of the Democratic Center Party, had just been elected candidate of a right-wing coalition. However, even Duque’s political godfather, former President Alvaro Uribe, seemed to be skeptical about his prospects and had met on several occasions with Vargas Lleras. Nevertheless, this particular scenario did not play out. Duque’s successful incarnation of the Colombian hard-right forced Vargas Lleras to embrace a center-right position, ending up in fourth place during last Sunday’s first electoral round.

Read more at Fair Observer: