美国国家公共电台 NPR Colombia's Presidential Election Moves To A 2nd Round Pitting Right Against Left

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Colombia's Presidential Election Moves To A 2nd Round Pitting Right Against Left

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The American Civil War ended in 1865. That was a long time ago. Yet there is a case to be made that many of our elections since then have replayed some of the old Civil War divides. We mention this because Colombia just recently ended a 50-year-old guerrilla war, and its first presidential election since the peace accord replays some of their old divides. Two candidates made a runoff, one of them a former leftist guerilla, the other a right-wing candidate who does not like the peace deal at all. John Otis is in Bogota covering the election for NPR News.

Hey there, John.

JOHN OTIS, BYLINE¹: Hey. It's good to be here, Steve.

INSKEEP: So the right-wing candidate, who I guess got the most votes - right? - Ivan Duque - largely unknown until recently, right?

OTIS: Yeah, that's correct, Steve. But Duque is a 41-year-old lawyer, very intelligent, very articulate. He spent a lot of his time at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington working on economic issues. But the rap on Duque is that he's young, he's got no managerial experience and served just four years in the Colombian Senate before launching his presidential campaign. What he does bring to the table is the support of former Colombia President Alvaro Uribe, and this is a major factor here because Uribe is a hero to many Colombians because during his two terms in office, he ordered devastating² military attacks against Colombia's guerrilla groups. So with Uribe's support, Duque just shot to the top of the polls. Critics fear he could end up as a kind of a puppet president with Uribe pulling the strings³. But Duque is, of course, insisting he's his own man.

INSKEEP: So you've got the one candidate who wants to be really tough on the rebels and is associated with this president who was really tough on the rebels, and then you have this former leftist guerrilla. Who's he?

OTIS: This is Gustavo Petro. He was, in fact, part of the M-19 guerrilla group, which disbanded almost 30 years ago. And in the past, Colombians would reject leftist politicians like Petro because, you know, they figured they were still closet guerrillas. But now that the major Colombian rebel group, the FARC, has disarmed⁴ under the peace treaty, it's opened up a lot more political space for leftists like Petro. Petro has promised to govern on behalf of the poor. But his critics are now trying to paint him as a dangerous radical⁵ who plans to, you know, adopt some of the same policies that have led to food shortages and hyperinflation in socialist⁶ Venezuela right next door. So things really are getting quite polarized here between the right and the left ahead of the second-round election.

INSKEEP: Well, are things so polarized that this peace deal, which is not very old, could come apart?

OTIS: That is a possibility, Steve. Petro strongly supports this peace treaty, but Duque's big showing on Sunday reflects a growing frustration⁷ among Colombians for the peace accord. It ended a war that killed 220,000 people and vastly reduced violence, but Duque claims it's too lenient⁸ on former fighters. For example, those accused of war crimes are going to be able to avoid prison under the pact⁹, so Duque has promised to rewrite this treaty. Others think he might end up focusing on economic issues. But either way, he easily won the most votes Sunday, and polls place him as the favorite going into the runoff on June 17.

INSKEEP: Thanks very much. That's reporter John Otis in Bogota.