Colombia's left picks Ivan Cepeda as 2026 presidential candidate

FILE PHOTO: Plaintiff Senator Ivan Cepeda speaks to the media, after a judge found former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe guilty of abuse of process and bribery of a public official, in Bogota, Colombia July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez/File Photo

BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombian Senator Ivan Cepeda was elected to be the left's 2026 presidential candidate on Sunday after a primary vote by the Historic Pact, a leftist coalition that brought the country's current president, Gustavo Petro, to power in 2022.

Cepeda, 63, won the Historic Pact's primary with 1.02 million votes (64.4%), surpassing former Health Minister Carolina Corcho, who received 472,062 votes (29.5%), with 88% of votes tallied.