Right-winger holds strong lead in Colombia presidential poll

BOGOTA, May 4 (Reuters) – Right-wing candidate Ivan Duque held a healthy lead over rivals ahead of Colombia’s presidential election on May 27, with 38 percent of voters saying they planned to back him, a survey by Centro Nacional de Consultoría (CNC) showed on Friday.

Support for Duque, a protégé of former President Alvaro Uribe, was up 1 percent from CNC’s last survey in April, and steady or slightly below numbers from other polls. Leftist candidate Gustavo Petro, a former M-19 rebel and former mayor of Bogota, was in second place with 25 percent, down four points from the last survey by CNC and down six points compared with a recent poll by Invamer.

Centrist Sergio Fajardo was third with 17 percent and support for center-right German Vargas Lleras was 7 percent. Cifras y CNC YanHaas Invamer CNC Conceptos April 19 April 26 April 27 May 4 April 11 Ivan 35.4 37 38 41.3 38 Duque Gustavo 24 29 28 31 25 Petro Sergio 9.9 15 11 13.3 17 Fajardo German 10.7 8 7 7.9 7 Vargas Lleras Margin of 3.4 3.3 3 3 3.3 error (Reporting by Bogota newsroom Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)