Colombia goes to polls in election pitting outgoing leader’s ally against pro-Trump candidates

Colombians are casting ballots in the first round of the South American nation’s presidential election, choosing between candidates with radically diverging visions for the future of peace in a country haunted by decades of armed conflict. The vote on Sunday, seen as a referendum on outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s policies, comes 10 years after Colombia signed a historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). That agreement offered hope to break the nation out of a vicious cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government but violence has roared back since then , coming to a head in the lead-up to the presidential vote. Criminal groups have increasingly launched drone strikes, armed attacks have plagued the race and last June, presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was fatally shot at a political rally . In a country where the fight for peace has long been a part of the political ethos, the question of how to address the conflict is once again dividing the country. There are 14 candidates on the ballot, but the election has basically turned into a three-horse race. Senator and peace-builder Iván Cepeda – a Petro ally – has led the polls and promises to carry on with Petro’s “total peace” initiative to negotiate with the country’s remaining rebel groups and sign peace agreements with them in an effort to resolve the persistent crisis. Presidential candidate Iván Cepeda holds a press conference in Bogotá. …