Ex-mayor eyes historic leftist conquest of Colombian presidency
Colombians vote Sunday in the first round of presidential elections, with a leftist poised for victory for the first time in the country's troubled history.
The vote takes place in a tense atmosphere, a year after a brutal security crackdown on street protests that were fueled by deepening socio-economic woes.
Polls show that many Colombians are pinning their hopes on Gustavo Petro, an ex-guerrilla and former mayor of Bogota, to address poverty, rural violence, urban crime and endemic corruption.
Petro, 62, is hoping to avoid a June 19 run-off against 47-year-old Federico Gutierrez, a former mayor of second city Medellin who represents an alliance of right-wing parties.
To do so, he would need to garner more than 50 percent of first-round votes cast.
About 300,000 armed police and soldiers will keep the peace at 12,000 polling stations countrywide, under the watchful eye of observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union.
Just under 39 million of Colombia's 50 million people are eligible to cast a vote between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm (1300-2100 GMT), though the recent abstention rate has been high at around 50 percent.
MG
