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Claudia Lopez, a symbol of the fight against corruption in Colombia, on Sunday became the first woman to be elected mayor of the capital Bogota.
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The 49-year-old center-left candidate, who is openly gay, won the local election with 35.2 percent of the vote ahead of liberal Carlos Fernando Galan (32.5 percent) with almost all votes counted.
"Not only did we win but we're changing history," ex-senator Lopez said on Twitter.
Gracias a todas y todos los maestros, mentores, jefes, colegas, compañeros, amigos y ciudadanos que me enseñaron, quisieron y apoyaron para llegar a éste día en la vida.
Gracias a mi ciudad y su extraordinaria ciudadanía por confiar y darme esta oportunidad.
Vamos a honrarla! pic.twitter.com/Ain6n2jtva
— Claudia López
(@ClaudiaLopez) October 28, 2019
President Ivan Duque said the local elections around the country had attracted the "largest number of candidates in history."
Lopez's victory in the capital city of 7.2 million people is a significant step forward in a country used to being led by male liberal elites.
"Being a woman is not a fault, being a headstrong woman, firm… is not a fault. Being gay is not a fault, being a girl from a modest family is not a fault," Lopez told AFP last week.
More than 36 million voters were called to vote for mayors, governors and local assemblies, with more than 116,000 candidates to choose from, 37 percent of whom were women.
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