Ivan Duque wins presidential election, becomes next president of Colombia

Colombian presidential candidate Ivan Duque (C), along with his children, casts his ballot at a polling station in Bogota, Colombia, on June 17, 2018. The right-wing candidate, Ivan Duque, won the Colombian presidential election runoff on Sunday with nearly 54 percent votes after more than 99 percent votes counted, according to Colombia's National Electoral Council (CNE). (Xinhua/COLPRENSA/Sofia Toscano)

BOGOTA, June 17 -- Ivan Duque, of the right-wing Democratic Center party, won the second round of the Colombian presidential election on Sunday, claiming 53.97 percent of the vote, with 99.76 percent of the votes counted, according to National Electoral Council (CNE).

His left-wing rival, Gustavo Petro, of the Humane Colombia movement, finished in second place, with 41.81 percent.

Duque will take over the presidency in August from outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos, whose term was marked by a peace deal with the FARC guerrilla group.

Most of the country backed Duque's business-friendly project, appealing to international investors that Colombia was open for trade and investment after years of violence. Petro, a former guerrilla and mayor of Bogota, campaigned on a more social project, vowing to tackle inequality.

While Petro won in his fiefdom of Bogota, the rest of Colombia's major cities sided with Duque, with Medellin, Cali, Bucaramanga and Cartagena all voting for Duque.