The Latest Breaking News from Gustavo Petro

For the first time in Colombia's history, the left, led by former Bogota mayor Gustavo Petro, could win the presidential election set to begin Sunday. If it prevails, Afro-Colombian environmental and human rights activist Francia Marquez would become vice president. A victory would mark a turning point for a country…

Colombians headed to the polls Sunday in the first round of a presidential election, with a leftist poised for victory for the first time in the country's troubled history.

Colombia's presidential election is Sunday, and for the first time, a leftist candidate is favored to come out ahead. Business elites are nervous.

Colombians will choose among a leftist promising change, a center-right candidate seen as the natural successor to the incumbent leader, and an eccentric business magnate in a presidential vote on Sunday.

Colombians will pick from six candidates in a presidential ballot being held Sunday amid a generalized feeling the country is heading in the wrong direction

Bogota (AFP) - Colombians go to the polls Sunday in a deeply polarized election that could see a leftist -- and ex-guerrilla -- become president for the first time in the history of the violence- and inequality-plagued country.

Leading Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro is roundly critical of the U.S.-led war on drugs and has questioned the extradition of a drug kingpin, views that may herald a shakeup of how the Andean nation battles the narcotics industry.

Colombia's economy must grow by more than 5% per year and the government should fund a basic income for the poorest households if the country is to tackle deep inequality, center-right presidential candidate Federico Gutierrez said on Wednesday.

Whoever wins Colombia's presidency will face a divided congress and likely street protests, which will complicate efforts to carry out badly-needed fiscal and social reforms, analysts and politicians said.