None of the candidates seduce the citizens, who find them unpredictable and fear that the country will settle into radicalism
Let them confess to us! The phrase is sure to be uttered or thought by more than thirty million Colombian citizens who will decide this Sunday who will determine the future of their country. Gustavo Petro or Rodolfo Hernandez. They call it change. A new face for a beautiful, rich country, but one that survives with an open wound, bleeding from political corruption, drug trafficking and common crime. Colombia votes to risk having a left-wing president for the first time or demonstrating in front of a right-wing populist. The center ceased to exist and ‘uribismo’ does not compete this time.
He was buried by Iván Duque, the outgoing president, favored son of Álvaro Uribe, who ruled the country in the shadows from 2002-2010 and who was yesterday sentenced to two days of house arrest for contempt of a court order.
Some political scientists say election struggles are tearing societies apart. Colombia has long been broken. Today is the final judgment. None of the options tempt Colombians. They are unpredictable, risky. To cross himself for choosing the mood. But you have to vote. The centre, the traditional parties have disappeared from the political spectrum. And the fear is that the country lives in radicalism.
“Everyone but Petro” is the slogan of the center and right. And so both ideologies are trying to reverse the mood. The total disqualification of the candidate from the left is what has been imposed. They have accused him of leading the country towards communism or leading it towards Castro-Chavism, which is the same thing. And so the fear is that Colombia will follow in the footsteps of Peru, Chile or whatever in Brazil’s next election. The left turn is feared all over Colombia, very fearful of turning towards a Venezuela of Maduro.
The final verdict on Colombia’s presidential elections faces an economist, with a light past as a guerrilla of the M-19, who prefers to describe himself as a revolutionary, former mayor of Bogotá and a man who has been thinking for a while that he can change Colombia. A politician who teams up Francia Márquez as vice president, lawyer, feminist, social leader, Goldman Prize winner for her fight for the environment.
“It’s not about choosing between the last name Petro or Hernández. It is something transcendent. This is the Colombia we want. If we want to keep moving forward or backward, go further in the past, in the inequality of women, or move forward together, continue to destroy education or move forward to the freedom that knowledge gives us, by letting corruption make us rule or confront and finally eradicate the corrupt. Continue in this state of violence and restlessness or move towards peace. This is not about the triumph of Petro or Hernández. This is a real and real change towards a Colombia where life triumphs. The future is in your hands.” This was Gustavo Petro’s last message to citizens via social networks.
Engineer Rodolfo Hernández, who has based his campaign on the fight against political corruption, addressed the Caribbean community, which is allegedly a supporter of Petro. He promised this region to review the direct and indirect costs of the entire chain, from energy generation to the individual meter at the consumer. “I think there are unjustified cost overruns in that chain. Look me in the eye, read me in the eye. I will not disappoint them.”
Petro has promised everything that makes him credible, but at the same time they also make him doubt, because many believe that he only wants power. In this sense, it guarantees a national agreement with the idea of reaching agreement on the development of peace in Colombia, the eradication of violence and the end of corruption. “The great national accord is a peace accord and a great social deal that we hope will be legitimized today.
Hernández’s option represents continuity for many Colombians. His announced fight against corruption clashes with his accusation for the same reason and for images like yesterday’s, in which he can be seen on a yacht, accompanied by some young women and in a celebratory pose. Although the recording dates from last year and does not reveal any wrongful or criminal action, opponents of the independent candidate took advantage of it to portray him as a sexist.
May God take up all known Colombians!
Source: La Verdad
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