The presidents of Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela, among others, as well as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union congratulated Gustavo Petro for his victory in the Colombian presidential elections this past Sunday.
Petro, 62, won the election with a 3.2 percentage point lead over the eccentric tycoon, who quickly conceded defeat.The senator and former guerrilla surpassed his rival by 716,201 votes, according to the scrutiny of 99.4% of the votes.For his part, the independent millionaire Rodolfo Hernández acknowledged his defeat against the leftist, in a short statement on Facebook.
“I accept the result as it should be (…) I wish Dr. Gustavo Petro that he knows how to lead the country, that he is faithful to his speech against corruption,” said the 77-year-old outsider.
Congratulatory messages
Rodrigo Chaves, president of Costa Rica, congratulated Petro for his victory “in a democratic and free process.”“Our best wishes to the Colombian people, with whom we wish to continue and improve the magnificent relationship we have,” the Ticopresident published on his Twitter account.
In fact, Twitter became the favorite of world leaders to express their good wishes to the former guerrilla. Leftist leaders celebrated Petro’s victory, including the leaders of Chile, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela.Representatives from the OAS, the EU and even one of the most visible heads of the Venezuelan opposition, Henrique Capriles, also joined.
First words
The environmentalist FranciaMárquez, the first Afro-descendant to win the vice presidency of Colombia at the hands of Petro, called for “reconciliation” after the ballot this Sunday.
“The great challenge that all Colombians have is reconciliation (…) In the midst of differences we can build a nation forward, a prosperous nation,” said Márquez, 40, in an interview with Caracol Radio.
“We hope together to build a country in peace, a country in dignity, a country with opportunities, with justice,” the activist told her rivals, who landed in the campaign as relative unknowns and defeated the traditional parties in the first round.
