Petro supporters celebrate historic victory in Colombia
STORY: Thousands waved Colombian flags and cheered Petro during his victory speech in Bogota's concert arena.
"The left has definitely come to power, and the people now have a voice and a vote and have their representatives," Petro supporter Jessica Arias told Reuters.
Leftist Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, beat construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of more than 700,000 votes in what analysts said was a demonstration of Colombians' eagerness for efforts to combat deep inequality.
This campaign was Petro's third presidential bid, and his victory adds the Andean nation to a list of Latin American countries that have elected progressives in recent years.
