BOGOTA/BUCARAMANGA—Leftist Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement, who has vowed social and economic change, won Colombia’s presidency on Sunday, the first progressive to do so in the country’s history.
Petro, 62, beat construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of more than 700,000 votes.
Petro, a former mayor of capital Bogota and current senator, has pledged to fight inequality with free university education, pension reforms, and high taxes on unproductive land. He won 50.5 percent to Hernandez’s 47.3 percent.
Petro’s proposals—especially a ban on new oil projects—have startled some investors, though he has promised to respect current contracts….