Petro, the candidate of change and winner of the first round, will compete for power with the unexpected candidate Hernández
Gustavo Petro, 62, will have to wait three weeks to find out if he can become the first left-wing politician to be elected president of Colombia. It won’t be easy. For now, he will have to settle for being the first leftist to beat all the right-wing forces in the country in the first round of the presidential election. The title of this Colombian political series, which will experience its second and final chapter on June 19, could be ‘Todos contra Petro’.
The script for the presidential election in Colombia explains that Petro, with 40% of the vote, has defeated all his opponents, but will need a second leg to achieve his total victory. 8.5 million Colombians validated the proposals for progress, transformation and change in a country dominated by the right for most of its history.
But he didn’t take his opponents to the canvas. 40% of the vote was initially not enough for the leader of the Historic Pact coalition to win the presidency. Petro will have to fight it against Rodolfo Hernández, the surprise candidate who received 28% of the vote (5.9 million). Between the two, they scored 68.51% in an election event that registered an historic level of participation and where abstinence was the lowest in two decades (it was 45.09%).
Colombia voted and did so with a head. He leaned to the left… And also to populism. He supported the ideas of changing the country for a better life, peacefully, in peace, without corruption and without violence. Colombia cast its vote, saying it didn’t want any more from the right, that it rejected all continuationist thoughts. He seemed to say no to more uribism, a term used to define the supporters of Álvaro Uribe, the former president who has ruled from the shadows in recent years.
Colombia voted for all that, but deep down it knows that the Uribista power has all the arms of an octopus and more lives than a cat. Federico ‘Fico’ Gutiérrez, the great candidate of the political machines that have dominated the country, the clientelism and the man destined to contest the presidency with Petro in a second round – represented the Team for Colombia made up of three other top aldermen of the country’s major cities, was surpassed by Rodolfo Hernández. “We must once and for all purge the national government of the thieves who ultimately betray the interests of Colombians. Politicians have been drones,” he assured as soon as he heard of his good results.
That clarity is what catapulted Hernández, the oldest of all candidates (77 years old). He suddenly erupted with a populist profile highlighting his fight against political corruption despite being investigated for the same case.
But that part of Colombia that wants change and has rejected “establishment” for the first time knows that Uribe is not giving up. As soon as the results of the elections were known, ‘Fico’ Gutiérrez announced that he would become a member of Rodolfo Hernández. The so-called change of coat was immediate. Now it’s time to wait for the project of the “old man from Tik-Tok”, as Hernández is known for his participation in this application. In the campaign, in which he attended few debates and held few demonstrations, he said he would support Petro if he was not elected.
The first round of this important election for Colombia reflects the rejection of the right by more than 70% of the electorate, and that the left-wing, progressive forces with alternative options have a bright future.
The next few days will be crucial. The right will turn against the populist candidate, who will no longer be able to sell the anti-corruption option alone by entering into an alliance with Uribismo. Colombia enters a battle to vote. Several analysts believe Petro should add nearly three million additional voters if Hernández’s alliance with Gutiérrez is carried out. He only believes that with a million more he will win the presidency.
“We want a change that builds peace, that ends the violence, that those days of uncertainty, of fear, sometimes of terror pass. We want social justice, that the old man and the old woman have a pension and that all the boys and girls in Colombia have food,” Petro said in his speech after hearing the election results.
“I ask Colombia not to continue as we are. That we do not sink further into violence, into corruption, that we do not commit suicide; that it is the time of life, that change is for life. are looking for is a Colombia that is a global power,” he added.
The elections of 29 May have made clear that Colombia wants change. Petro will have to sharpen his wits to attract the attention of the voters of the Esperanza Center, led by mathematician Sergio Fajardo and who has suffered another resounding defeat, or those who abstained. The match in which Colombia plays is not over yet.
Source: La Verdad
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