Posted on 06/16/2018 10:32:50 PM PDT by BBell
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Gustavo Petro, a former insurgent turned rabble-rousing mayor, is fighting to become Colombia's first leftist president, turning his humble beginnings and revolutionary past into a rallying cry for millions of the nation's youth and poor.
The 58-year-old economist is about 20 points behind right-wing candidate Ivan Duque to replace President Juan Manuel Santos, but his presence in the second round has worried many in the traditionally conservative nation, where the right has kept a vice-like grip on power.
Proposals from Petro to change the nation's economic model by piling taxes on unproductive landowners and abandoning oil and coal for clean energy have spooked investors. Some fear his efforts to shift wealth from rich to poor could turn Colombia into another Venezuela.
Known for his fiery speeches from the Senate against corruption and right-wing paramilitary groups, Petro says his political awakening began in 1973 with the military coup that ended the rule of Chile's socialist President Salvador Allende.
Colombia was descending into violence around the same time, as guerrilla groups began a wave of kidnappings and attacks on civilians.
It was then that Petro, the son of a teacher, pledged to fight the "feudal" oligarchy enriching itself at the expense of Colombia's poor, the former member of the M-19 guerilla group said.
"Twenty-first century politics is between the politics of life and the politics of death," the father of six told Reuters in April. "I represent the politics of life."
Inspired as a child by political biographies, Petro reportedly raised the ire of his Catholic teachers by reading books by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Although never a combatant, Petro's years in the now-defunct M19 rebel group - which stormed the Supreme Court in 1985, leading to the deaths of more than 100 people - have created fodder for
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Dear Columbians: Look at your next door neighbor, if you think Petro is the guy for you...
Here comes Venezuela pt. II...
It was 12%
Duque, alongside running mate Marta Lucía Ramírez, clinched the presidency with more than 10.3 million votes—or 53.98 percent—while Petro and his vice presidential pick, Ángela María Robledo, obtained over 8 million votes, or 41.80 percent.
The next issue is to unify the country. I think that he can do it, that includes a deal about FARC.
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