Dismayed Colombians weigh uneasy options in runoff race
BOGOTA — It was the outcome millions of Colombians had hoped to avoid: A bitter runoff between two presidential candidates whose polarizing viewpoints once again leave the nation divided.
In order to win in June, both conservative former senator Ivan Duque and one-time guerrilla leftist Gustavo Petro will need to sway many of the more than 6 million voters who lie somewhere in the middle and are appalled at the idea of voting for either contender.
The vast majority of those centrist votes went to ex-Medellin mayor Sergio Fajardo, who has yet to endorse either candidate, and it remains to be seen where the largely urban, middle class voters who flocked toward his campaign might gravitate.
Some vowed Monday to leave their vote blank when they enter the ballot box in three weeks for the June runoff. Others said they would hold their noses and vote for Duque, too fearful Petro will transform Colombia into another Venezuela. Still others quickly shifted their allegiances left, vowing to support Petro in order to ensure the nation’s peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish acronym FARC, remains intact.