The surprise was the second place a 77-year-old populist pushed within a few days of social media, with 28% of the vote attributed to Rodolfo Hernandez.

A Colombian Jair Bolsonaro?

Like Brazil’s Bolsonaro in 2018, Rodolfo Hernandez didn’t campaign, it was all on social media. His program: the fight against corruption. He was also compared to Donald Trump, who was less virulent. Pretty earthy it seems, no tongue in pocket.

As all the candidates went to thank their voters in public, he gave a short speech from his home, in his kitchen. The 77-year-old wealthy businessman is mayor of Bucaramanga, a large city north of the capital, a post he left with 84% approval.

Ingrid Betancourt stopped her candidacy recently to join Rodolfo’s campaign, as she is commonly known. He made a great choice. The former candidate who was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas and kept in captivity for over six years confessed to us his enthusiasm for the candidate.

He was a man who would speak out loud, who would strongly condemn corruption, who would not make unbelievable proposals. But he will really say what people think, how things should be handled and what should be done. This is popular common sense, if you will. At the same time, he was a smart man. He had a country diagnosis. I believe this is really good, just. And he talks to Colombians, not to the elite.

But Rodolfo Hernandez’s program is vague. Gustavo Petro, feeling the danger, had these words after the results: There is no social justice if there is corruption, but corruption is not opposed by TikTok slogans.

Vision difficulties for Gustavo Petro

Gustavo Petro valued the prospect of becoming Colombia’s first leftist president in 200 years in the first round. And, when that fails, he expects a second round with right-wing candidate Federico Gutierrez, Fico. He came third with 24% of the vote.

However, these votes are more likely to go to Rodolfo, the pure and hard right will never support a leftist president, even an ex-M-19 guerrilla in the 1980s. Clearly, after his defeat , he said that Petro is a danger to the country, to democracy, to our families, to our children.

If his 24% is added to Rodolfo’s 28%, the latter is likely to beat Petro in the second round. Because Petro is feared by a large portion of the population.

Ana Bejarano, political analyst: It scares theestablishment Colombian. He was an educated, brilliant, well -prepared leader, but people were afraid of him. Because of his management of the town hall of Bogota and also because of his alleged authoritarian nature, he is allergic to criticism.

Colombia chose change. The two candidates contain it in their own way. As elsewhere, the old parties have been denied, the rights of President Ivan Duque, and of his mentor former President Alvaro Uribe, being violated after the mismanagement of the economy and the COVID of the last four years while trying to torpedo the peace agreement reached with the FARC in 2016.

But Colombia is diving into the unknown.