President Ivan Duque shakes hands with supporters after his victory in the presidential runoff election in Bogota. (Photo| AP)
BOGOTA: Colombia's conservative Ivan Duque Marquez on Tuesday took oath as the country's 60th president, succeeding Juan Manuel Santos, who had been in power since 2010.
Duque defeated Petro, in a presidential run-off in June with 54 per cent votes. He finished more than 12 points ahead of former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, though the runner-up's performance at the ballot box was the best ever for the left in one of Latin America's most conservative nations
He was sworn in during an open-air session at Bolivar Square in the historic centre of Bogota. Over 12,000 police were deployed at Bolivar Square for Duque's swearing-in ceremony, according to local reports, as per Aljazeera.
The mayor of the US city of Miami, Francis Suarez, and the leader of Spain's Popular Party, Pablo Casado, attended the event. Duque who formerly served as a senator was the presidential candidate for the Democratic Centre Party for the election in 2018.
Apart from politics, he has penned down many books as well. Duque is married to María Juliana Ruiz, with whom he has three children namely Luciana, Matías, and Eloísa.
