Colombia’s May 27 presidential elections were unprecedented. They were the first elections of the “post-conflict” period following the ratification of the peace agreements between the government and the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC). They were the most peaceful elections of the last fifty years, with higher participation than ever; turnout climbed to 53 percent up from a recent average of 45.7 percent.

They were the first elections in which a leftist candidate won broad support and made it into the second-round runoff. The elections also revitalized the far right; they now lead the race as the country heads into the runoff. Meanwhile, the traditional party structures have never done so poorly. Something significant is changing in Colombia.

Not everything is new. The right-wing candidate Iván Duque, backed by former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez and his party Centro Democrático, won with 44 percent of the vote and 7,558,382 votes. Duque, who worked for the Interamerican Development Bank for twelve years before becoming a senator, was a virtual unknown eighteen months ago. He won primarily because he was “el que dijo Uribe,” or “the one Uribe chose.”