MONROVIA, LIBERIA-President George Weah has congratulated the President of the Republic Colombia, Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego on his election as the 31st President of that country.
In his message to his Colombian Counterpart, the Liberian Leader expressed hope that the people of Colombia will continue to enjoy the blessings of peace and prosperity, under the astute leadership of President Gustavo Urrego.
According to a Foreign Ministry released on July 5, 2022, President Weah further said that he looks forward to working closely with President Urrego in deepening bilateral ties between the two countries.
President George Weah believes such engagements will serve the mutual interest of both countries and peoples.
Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 29 May 2022, with a runoff on 19 June 2022 as no candidate obtained at least 50% in the first round of voting. Iván Duque, who was elected president in 2018, was ineligible to run due to term limits.
Gustavo Petro, a senator and former Mayor of Bogota, defeated Rodolfo Hernández Suárez, former Mayor of Bucaramanga, in the runoff election. Petro’s victory made him the first left-wing candidate to be elected president of Colombia, and his running mate, Francia Márquez, is the first Afro-Colombian elected to the vice-presidency, as well as the second female vice-president overall.
The elections were held in the aftermath of the 2021 Colombian protests amid poor economic conditions during the country’s COVID-19 pandemic6] Petro, a former AD/M-19 member who was defeated by Duque by over ten percentage points in 2018,[7] was chosen as a candidate of the Historic Pact for Colombia alliance. Petro’s left-wing platform encompassed support for land reform, universal health care, continuing the Colombian peace process, and expanding social services.[5
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with an insular region in North America. It is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east, Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and Panama to the northwest. Bogota is the capital city of Colombia.
