Santos sweeps Colombia vote

Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s former defence minister who belongs to the National Unity Party, has won the first round of the South American country’s presidential election, which was held on Sunday.

Pre-vote polls had indicated Santos would get a similar share of the vote as his rival Antanas Mockus, the former mayor of the capital Bogota and member of the Green party. 

But Santos won 46 per cent of the vote, significantly ahead of Mockus with only 21 per cent.

However, Mockus has another chance for victory in a runoff vote on June 20.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports from Bogota.