Gustavo Petro

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡusˈtaβo fɾanˈsisko ˈpetɾo uˈreɣo]; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian economist, politician, former guerrilla fighter, senator, and the president-elect of Colombia.[1][2] He defeated Rodolfo Hernández Suárez in the second round of the 2022 Colombian presidential election on 19 June.[3] When he takes office, Petro will become Colombia's first leftist president.[4][5][6]

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Gustavo Petro
Petro in 2013
President-elect of Colombia
Assuming office 7 August 2022
Vice President	Francia Márquez (elect)
Succeeding	Iván Duque
Member of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 July 2018
In office 20 July 2006 – 20 July 2010
Mayor of Bogotá
In office 23 April 2014 – 31 December 2015
Preceded by	María Mercedes Maldonado (acting)
Succeeded by	Enrique Peñalosa
In office 1 January 2012 – 19 March 2014
Preceded by	Clara López Obregón (acting)
Succeeded by	Rafael Pardo (acting)
Member of the Chamber of Representatives
In office 20 July 1998 – 20 July 2006
Constituency	Capital District
In office 1 December 1991 – 20 July 1994
Constituency	Cundinamarca
Personal details
Born	(1960-04-19) 19 April 1960 (age 62) Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba, Colombia
Political party	Humane Colombia (2011–present)
Other political affiliations	M-19 (1977–1997)[lower-alpha 1] Alternative Way (1998–2002) Regional Integration Movement (2002–2004) Alternative Democratic Pole (2004–2010) Historic Pact for Colombia (2021–present)
Spouse(s)	Katia Burgos ​ (divorced)​ Mary Luz Herrán ​ ​ (m. 1992; div. 2003)​ Verónica Alcocer ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	5
Alma mater	External University of Colombia Graduate School of Public Administration Pontifical Xavierian University University of Salamanca Université catholique de Louvain
Signature
Website	gustavopetro.co

At 17 years of age, Petro became a member of the guerrilla group 19th of April Movement, which later evolved into the M-19 Democratic Alliance, a political party in which he was elected to be a member of the Chamber of Representatives in the 1991 Colombian parliamentary election. He served as a senator as a member of the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA) party following the 2006 Colombian parliamentary election with the second-largest vote. In 2009, he resigned his position to run in the 2010 Colombian presidential election, finishing fourth in the race.[7]

Due to ideological disagreements with the leaders of the PDA, he founded the Humane Colombia movement to compete for the mayoralty of Bogotá. On 30 October 2011, he was elected mayor in the local elections, a position he assumed on 1 January 2012.[8] He received the worldwide “Climate and City Leadership” in 2013 thanks to his achievements while in office. In the first round of the 2018 Colombian presidential election, he came second with over 25% of the votes on 27 May, and lost in the run-off election on 17 June.[9]