The Nobel Prize for Literature Mario Vargas Llosa expressed this Monday his wish that the victory of leftist Gustavo Petro in the second round of the presidential elections held yesterday in Colombia "be an amendable and correctable accident" in the immediate futureand that the Latin American country remains "within strict legality".
Vargas Llosa made these statements at the XV Atlantic Forum “Ibero-America: democracy and freedom”, organized at the Casa de América in Madrid by the International Foundation for Freedom (FIL), which he chairs.
Petro, from the leftist coalition Historical Pact, won in yesterday’s elections 50.44% of the votes against the populist Rodolfo Hernández, which reached 47.31%.
Regarding the elected president of Colombia, the Spanish-Peruvian writer recognized that the unknown is in "if it stays within the legality or not".
If it does, "all the better for Colombia, but if it intends, as some of its supporters intend, to wipe out this legality, a question arises regarding the future of the country, since it would enter, like other Latin American countries, in an unpredictable world,” he argued.
However, he congratulated Petro on his "tight win" Y highlighted the "magnificent" work of the still Colombian president, Iván Duquewho will continue to hold the position until August 7 and who also participated, electronically, in the Forum.
"Duque’s presidential management has been highly questioned, but after adding and subtracting I think he has always acted within the law and hopefully this will continue to be respected under the new president”, he insisted.
Other relevant figures from the region also participated in the XV Atlantic Forum, such as Francisco Cabrera, former Minister of Production of Argentina; Cristián Larroulet, former Minister of the Presidency of Chile; Juli Minoves, honorary president of the Liberal International, and Álvaro Vargas Llosa, son of the Nobel Prize winner, among others.