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Reuters
BOGOTA
Colombians vote on Sunday in a deeply divisive presidential runoff with one candidate wanting to alter a fragile peace deal and the other promising to overhaul the economic model.
Leftist former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, has pledged to take on political elites, redistribute land to the poor and gradually eliminate the need for oil and coal in Latin America's fourth-largest economy.
"We're between a rock and a hard place,"said financial planner Juan Jose Mojica, 21."They're two extremes that could destroy the development that the country has made over the last years."
From the sweltering Caribbean coast to the frigid heights of the Andes, Colombians will vote at some 11,230 polling stations across the nation. The count begins when polls close at 4 p.m. local time (2100 GMT) with results expected within hours.
These are the first elections since a 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which ended their part in a five-decade conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions.
"I hope all Colombians go out to vote to strengthen our democracy, which guarantees the rights and freedoms of each and every citizen,"said President Juan Manuel Santos, who won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his peace efforts, after voting.
Duque wants to change the accord with tougher punishments for FARC war crimes, while Petro promises to support the existing deal and continue a peace process with the National Liberation Army (ELN) - Colombia's last active rebel group.
The ELN called a ceasefire during voting and about 157,000 members of the armed forces will protect voters during the day.
"This election is so important because it is going to define the future of the country. It's historic because we have never had a leftist option in the second round,"said an old official.
