Ivan Duque, the young conservative protege of a powerful former Colombian president, was poised Sunday to become the country’s next president after promising to roll back a still fragile peace accord.
The 41-year-old Duque captured 54 percent of the votes, putting him more than 12 points ahead of leftist former guerrilla Gustavo Petro in a tense election runoff that divided many Colombians during a critical juncture in the nation’s history. More than 97 percent of polling stations were reporting results.
The prematurely graying Duque galvanized voters by promising to change parts of the accord with leftist rebels but not “shred it to pieces.” He would be the youngest president in Colombia in more than a century.
“I’ve come here to fulfill a dream,” Duque said outside his voting center Sunday. “For Colombia to be governed by a new generation, one that wants to govern for all and with. One that unites the country and turns the page on corruption.”
The new president will inherit a country still scarred by more than five decades of bloody conflict and grappling with soaring coca production. Former guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are struggling to reinsert themselves in civilian life in a nation where many people remain hesitant to forgive. Vast swaths of remote territory remain under the control of violent drug mafias and residual rebel bands.
“Undoubtedly, for the peace process, this is an important test,” said Patricia Munoz, a professor of political science at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogota.
It was the first presidential…
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