BOGOTA: Colombians began voting in a presidential runoff on Sunday, choosing between a hard-right, White House-backed lawyer and a leftist senator to decide the fate of a stumbling peace process and strained ties with Washington. Up to 41 million voters will choose between frontrunner Abelardo de la Espriella and his leftist rival Ivan Cepeda.
Security issues dominated a campaign marred by guerrilla bomb attacks and the murder of a leading conservative presidential candidate.
"I have to say, there is a certain fear," 59-year-old Alex Vizcaino said while voting in the Caribbean coast city of Barranquilla. "It's the first election where you feel this bit of fear." "There are a lot of fanatics. You see a lot of violence," he said. "I think everyone's hope, regardless of political colour, is that things change."
De la Espriella, a dual US-Colombian national who calls himself "The Tiger," won May's first-round vote by promising to wage war on drug-running guerrilla groups who refused to sign a 2016 peace accord. He has won President Donald Trump's "complete and total endorsement" and hopes to ride a right-wing wave that has swept rightist candidates to power in Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
