Gustavo Petro

Gustavo Petro is the current president of Colombia. He is newsworthy due to the recent first round of the presidential election, where the candidate he backed, left-wing Senator Iván Cepeda, advanced to a runoff. Cepeda will face far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, a Trump admirer nicknamed 'The Tiger,' who won the first round. Petro's presidency has been marked by increased cocaine production, growth in armed groups, and surging border violence, leading critics to label his "total peace" strategy a failure, despite his government's claims of record drug seizures. Lawmakers are also considering a proposal to suspend Petro over alleged meddling in the upcoming election. The European Union's election observation mission has dismissed rumors of fraud in the first round, describing it as a "lesson in democracy."