Colombian voters weigh economic reforms against right-wing crackdown

Colombians will cast ballots on Sunday in what is likely to be the first round of a presidential election, choosing between a leftist pledging to expand reforms begun by the current government, an ‌independent businessman promising a security crackdown and a right-wing senator seeking to become the country’s first female leader.Leftist Ivan Cepeda, a 63-year-old senator, is leading opinion polls, but looks likely to fall well short of the 50 per cent-plus support needed to avoid a June run-off. Surveys suggest he will face a much tougher contest in a second round once right-leaning and centrist voters no longer have multiple candidates to choose from.Cepeda, the son of a murdered communist leader, ⁠has promised to pursue peace with illegal armed groups through negotiations, a policy that has led to little progress under current ‌leader President Gustavo Petro. He also plans to deepen reforms meant to reduce inequality and poverty, including by raising taxes on high earners, gifting 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) to victims of the country’s ‌six-decade internal conflict and expanding healthcare coverage.A person walks past a campaign poster for Colombian presidential candidate Paloma Valencia in Barranquilla, Colombia, on Saturday. Photo: EPAHot on his heels in polling is lawyer and businessman Abelardo De ⁠La Espriella, who has ⁠never held elected office, but whose aesthetic and policy proposals have drawn comparisons to El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele. Portraying himself as an outsider free from political ‌baggage, De La Espriella, 47, has proposed a tough offensive against illegal armed groups, the construction of 10 megaprisons and poverty reduction through better education, healthcare and housing for ‌the poorest.