the right wing candidate Federico Gutierrezbig loser in the first round of the Colombian presidential elections, announced this Sunday that together with his running mate, Rodrigo Lara, he will vote in the second round for the populist Rodolfo Hernandezwho will face the leftist Gustavo Petro.
“I want to publicly express that we do not want to lose the country and that we are not going to put the future of Colombia, our families and our children. And so, Rodrigo and I will vote for Rodolfo and by Marelen (Torres) on June 19,” he said. Gutiérrez in his first statement after hearing the election results.
With 99.90% of the precount done, Petro obtains 8,523,956 votes in his third presidential aspiration, equivalent to 40.32% but insufficient to win the Presidency in the first round, which was the objective this Sunday of his coalition, Historical Pact.
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His rival in three weeks will be Hernández, a 77-year-old engineer and former mayor of Bucaramanga, the fifth city in the country, which was launched as independent by the League of Anticorruption Governors, a movement created by him to suit him and with which he obtained 5,952,067 votes today, representing 28.15%.
Out of the presidential race were Gutiérrezof the right-wing coalition Team for Colombiawhom the polls gave second place but who only got 5,054,993 votes (23.91%)and Sergio Fajardo, from the Centro Esperanza coalition, with only 888,151 votes, which is 4.20%.
In that line, Gutiérrez thanked the more than five million Colombians who voted for him and criticized Petroof whom he said that “because of everything he has said and what he has done, it is not convenient for Colombia”.
“It would be a danger to democracy, freedoms, the economy, families and our children,” he added.
However, he clarified that they will be critical of the candidate they will support, since they will be Hernández and his team “those who answer for their actions in government.”
“In addition, we made it very clear that Rodrigo and I will not be part of his government nor will we seek to do so. We are going to maintain a position of oversight”, he expressed.
Finally, Gutiérrez He said: “I invite you to take care of the country and to vote for Rodolfo and Marelen on June 19 (…) because once democracies leave, they do not return.”