Former Colombian Rebel Gustavo Petro Elected Mayor of Bogota, Capital of Colombia

Gustavo Petro was elected mayor of the Colombian capital, Bogota as Colombians voted in local elections. The elections concluded on 30 October 2011.  Petro won 32 percent of the votes.  His main opponent Enrique Penalosa was the favoured candidate of former President Alvaro Uribe. He could manage only 25 percent of the votes. Petro was a former guerrilla with the defunct M-19 Movement.

 Petro helped uncover a bid-rigging scandal in Bogota in 2010 that sent its previous elected mayor, Samuel Moreno, to jail for corruption charges. The voting in the capital was part of nationwide regional and municipal elections, with 32 governorships and more than 1,100 mayoral and municipal council post being contested.

What is M-19 Movement

The 19th of April Movement or M-19,was a Colombian guerrilla movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática M-19), or AD/M-19. The M-19 traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent presidential elections of 19 April 1970.