Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (Local Spanish pronunciation: ; born April 19, 1960) is a Colombian politician, economist, and presidential candidate who previously served as mayor of Bogotá. As a left-wing politician, Petro was a member of the guerrilla group M-19 in the 1980s, which later evolved into the Alianza Democrática M-19, a political party in which Petro also participated as a member of the national congress in the 1990s. Petro also served as a senator as a member of the Alternative Democratic Pole party following the 2006 legislative elections with the second largest vote in the country. In 2009, he resigned his position to aspire to the presidency of Colombia in the 2010 Colombian presidential election, finishing fourth in the race.
After problems and ideological differences with the leaders of the Alternative Democratic Pole, he founded the left-wing Progresistas movement to compete for the mayoralty of Bogotá. On October 30, 2011, he was elected Mayor of Bogotá in the local elections of the city, position that he assumed on January 1, 2012.