Judy: For the first time in its
history, Columbia has elected a
leftist president.
Gustavo Petro is a former
guerrilla turned mayor of bogota
and then a senator.
He defeated Rodolfo Hernandez.
His election overturns the right
of center political
establishment that has long run
Columbia and could usher in a
dramatic change in its
relationship with its closest
regional partner.
Nick: A population hungry for
change cheered the man who
promises transformation.
Thousands waved flags and
chanted yes, we did it, for the
first ever left-wing president
in Columbia.
Introduced by the country's
first black vice president,
Gustavo Petro pledged a new
path.
>> Today is undoubtedly a
historic day.
We are writing history at this
moment.
History for Columbia, Latin
America, the world.
What is coming is a real change.
>> For 200 years we have been
governed by the same people, but
today begins a transition to the
government of change that will
benefit all Colombians.
Nick: Never before has Columbia
elected someone for with --
someone with Petro's past, who
was in jail.
He was first the mayor of bogota
and now senator.
For a country that long
marginalized the left, Petro's
election is a big departure.
The 62-year-old became an icon
for the country's frustrated
youth.
>> There has been a rising level
of discontent, a sense of lack
of opportunity, a sense that
education was too expensive.
Nick: Cynthia is a distinguished
fellow and says it is part of a
antiestablishment shift.
>> There is a desire for change,
throw out the people that had
been in charge over these last
complicated, difficult years,
economically, which have seen
rises in equality and food
security.
Nick: For decades Columbia has
been the u.s.'s strongest
regional ally, the militaries
work together.
Also, the largest regional
trading partner.
They teamed up to fight with the
U.S. Calls the fight on drawers,
-- drugs, but Petro calls that a
failure and wants to focus on
climate change.
>> Columbia and the U.S. Have
tried to suppress coca and the
creation and export of cocaine.
Shifting away from that and
planting another strategy that
is unproven and unknown is going
to create friction.
Nick: Another change, Petro's
embrace of the left.
He met with Hugo Chavez before
his death in 2013.
Petro hopes to create a
Progressive partnership with
Nicolas maduro and other
regional leftists.
>> He has been close to the
Venezuelan dictatorship.
I think he will play that side
from now.
Nick: Francisco Calderon was a
former vice president and says
Petro is on the opposite side of
the history from the U.S.
>> Columbia will be more on the
side of autocracies than
democracies.
It will put an end to a close
relationship between Columbia
and the U.S. The past 30 years.
Nick: Petro vows to end
dependence on fossil fuels and
raise taxes on the rich.
His victory comes six years
after FARC agreed to stop
guerrilla warfare.
The vice president, a former
made and farmer, turned
environmental activist.
>> I was struck in her
acceptance speech when she
talked about, this was a
government for the people with
callused hands, for the nobodies
in Columbia.
Nick: Petro promises a
government for the people, but
sweeping reforms will be hard to
implement as Columbia ventures
into the unknown.
For "The pbs newshour," I'm Nick