Medellín, Colombia – More than 41 million Colombians are eligible to vote in this Sunday's first round presidential elections to decide who will govern the nation for the next four years. Whoever succeeds the country's first ever leftist president, Gustavo Petro, will face concurrent challenges of rising violence, an increasing public deficit, and a fragmented political climate.
Due to Colombia's constitutional rules, Petro is unable to seek reelection, yet many see this election as a referendum on the last four years of his progressive government under the Historic Pact party.
