The Colombians will decide who will be the country’s next president in the runoff between Gustavo Petro and Rodolfo Hernández on June 19.
Colombians will decide who will be the country’s next president in the run-off elections on June 19.
The competition will be between left-wing or centre-left candidate Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla, economist and senator who is running for president for the third time, and right-wing candidate, engineer, former mayor Rodolfo Hernández. From Bucaramanga, it is often ranked as “populist”, “crazy” and “non-political”.
The banners of 62-year-old Petro are social justice, agrarian reform – “democratizing the land”, collecting taxes on large fortunes to “ensure welfare and social inclusion”, and “a productive economy with economic stability”. Petro also advocates the end of mandatory military service and the expansion of Human Rights in the Armed and Police Forces.
Petro of the Pacto Histórico coalition insisted that he had no intention of confiscating or nationalizing companies, and criticized the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, but still remained undeterred by the country’s business and conservative sectors. country. His advocacy of renegotiating current free trade agreements involving the United States is troubling business.
The main banner of 77-year-old Hernández is the fight against corruption, which is almost the only topic on which he insists on his strategy of communication through social networks, although he had problems with Justice due to complaints of irregularities when he was mayor of Bucaramanga. . . .
Hernández of the Anti-Corruption Rulers’ Union advocates for the medical use of cannabis, minimum income creation for the poorest, and retirement for those who do not contribute to social security, but did not elaborate on where the funds would come from. from.
Shortly after the poll results, analysts told Bogotá’s El Tiempo newspaper’s online TV channel Sunday night (5/29) that “from a mathematical point of view”, Hernández’s victory could not be ruled out. Equipo por Colombia coalition, right-wing candidate Federico ‘Fico’ Gutiérrez, in the election to be held, said that he will support Colombia, which receives support from traditional parties.
“Mathematically, if Hernández and Gutierrez’s votes add up, foreigner Hernández wins,” said one. Petro received 8.5 million votes (40.32%), Hernández 5.9 million (28.15%) and Gutiérrez just over 5 million (23.91%).
But in that math, you can still weigh the abstention rate, and so it’s unclear what will happen in the runoff.
The elections took place amid deep polarization, driven by societal discontent stemming from inequality and poverty, and distrust in cities where illegal armed groups dedicated to drug trafficking operate, and demands to reduce violence in rural areas.
More than 85% of Colombians think the country is on the wrong track. Such a high level of pessimism has not been reported since the 1990s, the most acute moment of the armed conflict.
‘Tiredness’
According to analysts, the surprising vote in Hernández reveals Colombians “tiredness” of politicians and the current system. For the first time in decades, the election left traditional parties out of the electoral race in a country with a long history of right-wing and right-wing, which would also confirm this “fatigue” and Colombians’ quest for “change”. conservative governments
Famous for his speeches late Sunday night, Petro famously said, “We won and expanded our vote compared to previous elections. And our race is for change.” said. However, in clear messages to Hernández and his voters, he said there were “changes that could be suicidal” and that “corruption is not being tackled with Tik-Tok statements”. ‘Petrist’ was applauded by his followers (as his supporters were called).
In his speech, Petro quoted Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. As a young guerrilla, Petro took the pseudonym Aureliano from “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, referring to Colonel Aureliano Buendia, who is considered by scholars to be the main character of the book.
‘Shyly to vote’?
Hernández was the big election surprise. Up until about a month ago, it received 10% of the vote and was underestimated among politicians and analysts who saw its statements as “exotic”, “politically incorrect”, “sexist” or “vulgar”. It was interpreted as a “little usher” and had little chance of making it to the second round. Some industries call him ‘Colombian Trump’ and others compare him to Italian Silvio Berlusconi for his color and hair.
As Luaciana Manfredi, professor of political science at ICESI University in Cali observes, what was considered a “shameful vote” for Hernández was decisive for her qualifying for the runoff.
In his speech after Sunday’s result, Hernández again spoke of “ending politics” and said he knew he would face great difficulties if elected, but that he would have “popular support”. During the campaign, Hernández made objectionable statements. For example, he said during an interview that he “mixed” Hitler with scientist Albert Einstein after he was criticized for praising the German dictator.
Businessman and engineer Hernández is openly abusive and admitted in an interview with CNN in Spanish that he is wearing his pajamas. During the video interview, the journalist asked him if he was wearing a silk shirt or pajamas. To which Hernández replied: “I’m in my pajamas. I was only on my third sleep. I go to bed early, around seven o’clock.”
Analysts say the government’s program is “empty” or “reveals a few details” of what it really plans to achieve if elected to replace current president Ivan Duque. Being mayor of Bucaramanga, which has less than 600,000 inhabitants, was his only experience in political office. He left office with over 80% popularity.
Peace settlement, tragedies and unemployment
Hernández’s life is also full of tragedies. He said that his daughter was kidnapped and killed by the ELN guerrilla group during the campaign, is still in action, and that her father was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for more than a hundred days.
The drama of decades of guerrilla warfare in the country was not at the center of the controversy in the first round of the election campaign, but was remembered by the opponents of Petro, who in his youth abandoned the M-19 armed group and favored it. Peace Agreement signed in 2016. Hernández was against the deal that led to the FARC handing over weapons, which was executed under the government of Juan Manuel Santos, but said he would implement the deal if elected.
The focus of this campaign is unemployment and poverty, among other diseases highlighted during the coronavirus pandemic.
Colombia, a country of approximately 50 million people, has more than 30% of people in poverty, in addition to a high percentage of informal workers. In addition to this social framework, unlike others in Latin America, Colombian society cites violence as among the top concerns in the country – particularly in the interior of Colombian territory, where drug trafficking and other problems create fear.
almost allies
Despite their rivals, Petro and Hernández formed almost the same ticket for the Presidency, as analysts heard by BBC News Brasil recall, but ended the campaign in a public trade in the first round. Petro called Hernández a “corrupt millionaire,” who reacted by stating that they were almost allies. “I no longer serve, Mr. Petro,” he said.
In the voting, in the first round, Petro received a large margin of votes over the other candidates, but not enough to avoid the runoff. Counting 99.32% of the tables, the mayor of Bogota received 40.31% of the vote, while Hernández, the mayor of Bucaramanga, received 28.2%.
This is the first time in the country’s recent history that candidates representing the classical right, supported by traditional parties, will not be able to run for the presidency.
Uribe and Duke’s defeat
The result of the first round was the biggest defeat for traditional parties and politicians, Álvaro Uribe, the current president Iván Duque, who supported Federico ‘Fico’ Gutiérrez, the former president and third.
The ‘Uribismo’ era has been in power for twenty years. On Sunday night, he announced that he would support ‘Fico’ Hernández, and up to that point the prevailing right and centre-right were expected to follow the same path – not precisely out of sympathy for the island, but mainly aversion to Petro.
On June 19, the Colombians will decide who will rule the country for four years.
source: Noticias
