The candidate of the Petro government leads a new survey one month before the presidential elections in Colombia

The ally of President Gustavo Petro maintains the lead in predictions since the beginning of the electoral campaign, which takes place in the midst of serious alterations of public order due to the armed conflict.

A survey by the Guarumo firm published by the newspaper The Time indicates that Cepeda has 38% of the voting intentionahead of the right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella (23.9%) and the opposition senator Paloma Valencia (22.8%).

The 63-year-old philosopher and human rights defender also appears as a favorite in other polls published in recent weeks.

Thursday’s measurement indicates a technical tie in a possible runoff with De la Espriella but a defeat with Valencia, the successor of the influential former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010).

If one of the candidates gets more than 50% of the votes in the first round, they would become president-elect.

After coming to power for the first time in 2022 with Petro, the left faces a new electoral test in a country hit by the rise in violence.

De la Espriella and Valencia are strong critics of President Petro’s policies to negotiate peace with all illegal armed groups, which four months before the end of its mandate is making no progress.

Guerrillas and groups of paramilitary origin challenged that will for peace and continued to operate thanks to the income from drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion.

The weekend rebels killed 21 civilians with explosivesthe deadliest attack against the population in decades.

De la Espriella and Valencia are critics of Petro’s so-called “total peace” and promise a tough crackdown on crime if they become president. lThe right defends a policy of persecution against armed groups like the one that Uribe applied together with the United States when he came to power at the beginning of the century.

Cepeda, meanwhile, is committed to continuing Petro’s social policies who during his government ordered a record increase in the minimum wage, expanded workers’ rights, among other progressive reforms.