Presidential elections are taking place in Colombia that could change the country's security policy
Presidential elections are taking place in Colombia, the results of which could significantly affect both the internal security policy and the foreign course of the state. Voting is happening after several months of tense relations between the current president Gustavo Petro and U.S. President Donald Trump over drug trafficking issues and Washington's role in the region. This is reported by BBC.
Gustavo Petro is not allowed to run for a new term due to a constitutional ban. He supported the leftist candidate Iván Cepeda, who declares his intention to continue the current government's policy. Among the main competitors are right-wing politicians Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia.
According to polls, Cepeda has the greatest support, and his closest rival is de la Espriella. At the same time, it is forecasted that none of the candidates will gain enough votes to win in the first round, so a second round may take place on June 21.
One of the key topics of the election campaign has become security. Cepeda supports continuing the "total peace" policy implemented by Petro's government. It involved negotiations with armed groups, some of which are linked to drug trafficking. At the same time, a number of such processes have yielded no results or reached a deadlock, and the level of violence in the country has risen again.
The right-wing candidates advocate a tougher approach and military methods to combat armed groups. De la Espriella and Valencia also declare their intention to restore close security partnership with the United States.
Cepeda, like Petro, emphasizes that Colombia should not be a "dependent state" on Washington. At the same time, experts note that even during periods of heightened political disputes between the two countries, cooperation in the fight against drugs has practically never stopped.
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