About 39 million citizens will be called upon this Sunday to choose their new president among Rodolfo Hernández, Gustavo Petro and ‘Fico’ Gutiérrez in a “historic” election
It is Colombia time and day. This Sunday he must choose what kind of government he wants for the next four years. “There are only two options. Either leave things as they are or change them. If we leave things as they are, the summary of what is today is corruption, violence and hunger. If we want to change, we can move towards peace, towards productive progress and towards a democracy with transparency». The words correspond to Gustavo Petro, the leader of the left, a strong favorite in the polls and who endorses the break with the country’s recent past.
«What Petro proposes is bread for today, poverty for tomorrow; a failed model as implemented in Argentina. To the 18 million savers in private funds, I tell you. Your money is safe with me. Let’s not endanger Colombia with models that have already failed in other countries.” It is the answer of Federico ‘Fico’ Gutiérrez, the follow-up candidate and second option in the polls.
“This historic moment of confidence in us continues through the opportunity to touch with our hands a more real democracy, despite the carnage and deceit in which the many and varied warlords try to drown it, be it bandits, mafiosi, paramilitaries, military , corrupt politicians, elite candidates, looters of gold and national wealth, expropriators of land that belongs only to the Colombian people. Why not believe that this is an auspicious hour for adventure, courage, youth, love and the brilliance of life? », wrote Colombian Laura Restrepo, winner of the Alfaguara Prize (2004) and the Grinzane Cavour (2006) with the novel ‘Delirio’.
Some 39 million Colombian citizens will be called to the polls this Sunday to elect their new president. Not only Petro and Gutiérrez aspire to lead a rich country, but also a country marked by drug trafficking, political corruption and violence in general.
On the voting cards, Rodolfo Hernández appears third in the fray, the man who leads the fight against corruption but is simultaneously under investigation for the same case, a 77-year-old man who one day made the mistake of saying that he admired Hitler, but whose networking campaign has led him to establish himself as a serious contender to bring down ‘Fico’ Gutiérrez. He has a populist discourse that talks about giving up the president’s salary, turning the Nariño Palace – the presidential residence – into an art gallery, and selling the state’s planes and helicopters.
The fourth candidate, Sergio Fajardo, was already in the last election and was the big favorite to challenge Iván Duque for power, but he was overtaken by Petro. Fajardo is perhaps the brightest of them all. Teacher, intelligent, respectable and loved, overly conciliatory and without the warrior soul Colombia needs today. The other two, John Milton Rodríguez and Enrique Gómez, have not even counted in the polls.
The question everyone is asking in Colombia is whether Petro will win in the first round or go to the second on June 19, and in case there is a second call, who will be his opponent? Gutiérrez is the most nominated for that possible nomination. The former mayor of Medellín is supported by Álvaro Uribe, president for two consecutive terms (2006-2014) and who has been in the shadows in recent years. Gutiérrez, elected to represent the Team for Colombia, which was made up of four of the country’s most powerful ex-regidores, has the support of the majority of political clans.
“Every Colombian is a country and a hostile country,” wrote Gabriel García Márquez. Petro announces unity and defends peace. You speak of a divided country, but it is already known that Colombia has signed one of the best peace treaties, but in the plebiscite to reaffirm it, it voted ‘no’. This Sunday Colombia plays it again.
Source: La Verdad
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