Colombian presidential aspirants head for runoff

The presidential candidate of the Party of the U (Partido Social de Unidad Nacional), Juan Manuel Santos, won in the first round of presidential elections in Colombia, which took place Sunday, May 30. Santos won in an upset, defeating Antanas Mockus of the Green Party. Santos is an ally of outgoing President Alvador Uribe.

According to preliminary figures released by the local press, Juan Manuel Santos got 46.56 percent of votes, Antanas Mockus, in second place with 21.49 percent; Germán Vargas got 10.13 percent and Gustavo Petro, 9.13 percent of the vote. Santos and Mockus are heading for a runoff election on June 20. If Mockus were to win, he would be the world's first green party head of state. He was a popular mayor of Bogota.

A total of 29.9 million citizens of this country hit the polls to elect the successor of President Alvaro Uribe, who will pass the baton on August 7, after eight years as President. The 10,000 voting centers closed at 4pm Sunday, May 30, after a day marked by calm, except for some incidents in remote areas of the country, linked to the guerrillas.

The Colombian Catholic Bishops' Conference encouraged citizens to participate in the consultation and vote for who is committed to promoting integral human development, while respecting the dignity of every person. In a message, the text of which was sent to Fides, the President of the Colombian Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez, said that "all of us members of the Church, all people of good will, must realize that the voting is not only a citizen's right, but a duty. Everyone who can vote must go to the polls to elect the person they consider most appropriate to lead the destiny of our country over the next four years."

Archbishop Salazar said that one must consider "the person that, through the programs of government he proposes to implement, shows an interest in the integral human development of our country. It should be the person you consider ideal in the defense of human dignity and of every human right. Therefore, this provides an opportunity for Colombia to have a more fraternal, supportive, and peaceful society.”