Elections in Colombia: who are the six candidates for the presidency

Six men are fighting this Sunday for the presidency of Colombia. But polls of voting intentions predict that either will not get 50% with one of the votes and there will certainly be a second round on June 19th.

In a climate of confrontation and polarization, different models of the country are at stake in these elections.

For the first time, in a country historically ruled by conservatives or moderates, analysts and politicians they see that the left can have power.

Here is a summary of the stories of the six candidates who hope to rule Colombia over the next four years:

Gustavo Petro

A guerrilla member of the April 19 Movement in his youth, he laid down his weapons in 1990 after signing a peace agreement.

In legality he is a congressman and denounced the relations between paramilitaries and politicians. He was mayor of Bogotá between 2012 and 2015, and although he was dismissed by a lawyer for alleged irregularities, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights agreed with Petro and found Colombia responsible for violating his political rights by removing him.

He ran for the presidency three times and in 2018 he was close to winning the second round, but was defeated by Ivan Duque.

At age 62, he is the leftist candidate for the Historical Pact Coalition, and proposes to help the weakest through subsidies, State jobs and “democratization.” He will promote reforms in pensions, agriculture and will not issue new oil exploitation licenses.

Federico Gutierrez

A Civil Engineer by profession, he entered politics at a young age two decades ago as a councilor in his native Medellin for two terms. He was then elected mayor of that city between 2016 and 2019.

48 years old he is the youngest candidate in this presidential contest and was able to obtain the biggest support in the right-wing coalitionconsisting of traditional parties, then compete in presidential primaries.

He promises to strengthen security, fight drug trafficking and illegal armed groups, including dissidents from the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which signed a peace agreement with the state in 2016.

Rodolfo Hernandez

A businessman in the construction sector, he entered politics only in 2016 when he won as mayor of Bucaramanga, in the northeast of the country, in a campaign without the support of traditional politicians.

He gained national fame after physically assaulting a councilor who criticized him. At the age of 77, he is seeking the presidency with his own movement, the League of Anti-Corruption Governors, which is certainly based on fighting corruption, which he has promised to punish with exemplary sanctions.

His campaign has been tight, as he has told his government. It does not hold events in public squares and is based in large part on its strategy on social networks. His motto is “don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t betray”.

Sergio Fajardo

Professor and doctor of Mathematics, he entered politics two decades ago and succeeded in becoming mayor of his hometown of Medellin and then governor of Antioquia.

He tried to become president in 2018, but he failed to get into the second round with a difference of approximately 200,000 votes to the second, Gustavo Petro.

In a new attempt at the 65-year-old, he is now the candidate of the Hope Center Coalition which brings together political parties and center leaders.

With a moderate speech and against polarization, it proposes to advance education, fight corruption, create the Ministry for Women and continue to fully implement the peace agreement signed with the FARC.

John Milton Rodriguez

Senator since 2018 and current candidate for the Colombia Justa Libres Christian party, of which he is co-founder.

He is an Industrial Engineer by profession and He dedicated his life to a Christian church called Mission Peace to the Nations, which he founded with his wife.also pastor Norma Stella Ruiz.

Rodríguez, 52, defended “family values,” opposing the legalization of drugs and is against euthanasia and abortion, allowed in Colombia.

She was one of the proponents of the referendum against abortion, which was upheld after it was decriminalized by the Constitutional Court until the 24th week of pregnancy in February of this year.

Enrique Gomez

He was a lawyer and businessman descendants of a family of conservative Colombian politicians. His grandfather Laureano Gómez was President of the Republic between 1950 and 1951.

Enrique Gómez, 53, ran as president for the conservative party the National Salvation Movement, founded by his uncle Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, a politician killed in an attack in 1995.

The candidate defends private property, the market and proposes to reform justice through a national constituent assembly.

Source: AP

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