Colombia elections

Colombian presidential candidate Rodolfo Hernández receives a warm welcome at the National Congress of Oil Palm Growers in Bucaramanga, Colombia, on June 3.

World News

After Colombia's election surprise, a populist TikTok star poses stiff competition

10:09am June 15, 2022

by John Otis

A 77-year-old populist who campaigns over TikTok and promises budget cuts and jail for corrupt officials is now neck and neck with his leftist opponent ahead of Sunday's runoff election.

Attendees during a closing campaign rally for presidential candidate Gustavo Petro in Bogotá, Colombia. Petro is ahead in the polls for this Sunday's election, but it's expected to go to a second round in June.

World News

Colombia goes into elections Sunday with a leftist looking to make history

4:20pm May 27, 2022

by John Otis

Colombia's presidential election is Sunday, and for the first time, a leftist candidate is favored to come out ahead. Business elites are nervous.

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Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro speaks during a campaign rally in Medellín, Colombia, on April 7. Petro is polling first ahead of the May 29 election.

World News

He's running to be Colombia's 1st left-wing president. Here's what he plans to do

5:13am April 28, 2022

by John Otis

Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro sits down with NPR and talks about his time in a guerrilla group and proposals to tackle poverty and climate change.

Ivan Duque, presidential candidate for the Democratic Center, and his vice presidential candidate Marta Lucia Ramirez, raise arms after winning the first round of Colombia's presidential election. A runoff with Gustavo Petro will be held June 17.

World News

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

5:05am May 28, 2018

by Doreen McCallister

Right-wing candidate Ivan Duque won a place in Colombia's June presidential runoff against leftist Gustavo Petro. That has some worried that a fragile peace pact with Marxist rebels could unravel.

A man casts his vote at a polling station in Cali, Valle del Cauca Department, during parliamentary elections in Colombia on March 11. The elections are the first that FARC will partake in as a legal political party. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images)

World News

Former FARC Rebels Face The Ballot In Colombia Congressional Elections

4:33pm March 11, 2018

by Emily Sullivan

After signing a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016, the FARC are running a total of 74 candidates for Senate and House of Representative seats.

A FARC supporter waves a banner during the launch of Timochenko's presidential campaign in Bogotá, Colombia, on Saturday. The word for "liberty" in Spanish is stamped on his tie.

World News

A FARC Rebel Commander Runs For President. Many Colombians Aren't Ready To Forgive

3:32pm January 29, 2018

by Manuel Rueda

After more than 50 years of insurgency, Colombia's most notorious leftist militant group has handed over its guns and formed a political party that's now fielding its first election candidates.