Colombians vote Sunday in a presidential election that will determine the conflict-ridden nation’s response to spiraling violence, either staying left and opting for dialogue or tacking right towards all-out war.

The constitution forbids a second term for the country’s first-ever leftist President Gustavo Petro, whose “total peace” strategy has failed to negotiate an end to conflict with armed groups.

Car bombs, explosive drones and the assassination of a presidential candidate have pockmarked the polarizing leader’s term, and experts say guerrillas have used talks to fortify their positions.

Whoever replaces Petro will have to reckon with a myriad of criminal groups engaging in drug trafficking and illegal mining.

But joblessness has fallen and wages have risen, and polls show Petro’s protege, Senator Ivan Cepeda, as the front-runner.

The son of a slain communist leader, Cepeda was an architect of historic 2016 peace accords that saw the rebel army FARC lay down arms. He has pledged to continue pursuing “total peace” and extend social programs in a deeply unequal society.

Dialogue with guerrillas, however, is not to the taste of Cepeda’s right-wing rivals, who are betting on security fears to shunt the left out of office.

Polls suggest a June 21 run-off between Cepeda and millionaire lawyer Abelardo De la Espriella, as no candidate is projected to have enough support to win the first ballot outright.

De la Espriella, self-styled “Tiger” and admirer of US President Donald Trump, wants to bring the country back to all-out clashes with guerrillas. “What De la Espriella wants is to put the house in order,” said Wilmer Bolivar, a 47-year-old ex-soldier.

Conservative Senator Paloma Valencia, a close ally of kingmaker and former president Alvaro Uribe, favors the same militarized approach.

“We are going to put an end to ‘total peace’ in order to impose total security,” she declared in a speech in March. AFP