With less than a week to go before the decision of the presidential election in Colombia, the board of alliances and demonstrations of support continues in constant movement, after the defeat of traditional forces in the first round. The dispute pits a name from the left, a field of traditionally high rejection in the country, against a populist who sells himself as an outsider and tries to maintain an independent pose.
On Sunday (19), Gustavo Petro, who had 40.3% of the votes on the last day 29, faces Rodolfo Hernández, who in the days before the first round surpassed initially better-rated names and was the option of 28.2% of the electorate. . Between differences and even some similarities, the two divide not only the local political class.
In a recent editorial, the British magazine The Economist stated that both “put Colombia at risk” and represent “a step into the unknown”, citing the possibility that the new president has no governability – as is the case in Peru with Pedro Castle. Still, according to the publication, the former left-wing guerrilla “seems like he would better accept institutional checks and balances”.
Former guerrilla Petro, former mayor of Bogotá and senator, has sought to mobilize the militancy to seek votes. He held talks with politicians across the country and garnered the support of left-wing leaders on the continent. Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), for example, gave his endorsement even before the first round, citing the defense of democracy —Petro thanked him, calling PT the “future president of Brazil”, indicating his preference for the election Brazilian.
The candidate also saw the Puebla Group sign a document in his favor. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he sympathized with the politician because of the “dirty war” sponsored by an “undignified and cowardly” right. And he added: “Everything that we have suffered in Mexico is now happening to Petro: they call him a communist, a guerrilla, they say that Colombia will be like Venezuela.”
Gabriel Boric (Chile) also spoke out, as did former Uruguayan presidents Pepe Mujica and Bolivian Evo Morales, who cited threats to the candidate — the leftist interrupted the campaign more than once and, in the second round, has opted for meetings with small groups; Hernandez did the same.
Internally, however, the dispute proves to be more challenging for the former mayor of Bogotá, although the rival maintains the outsider’s speech. “I presented myself as an independent and I can’t go looking for alliances, it would be a breach of commitment,” Hernández told broadcaster Univision. “We will receive support for the philosophy of our proposal, but the idea is to cleanse the government once and for all of thieves who betray Colombians.”
The populist had a dialogue with the fourth-placed in the first round, Sergio Fajardo (4%), which ended up not working: the former mayor of Medellín said that Hernández did not accept points that he would like to see included in the program and, in the week last week, announced that it will vote blank. The leadership of his coalition, Centro Esperança, is also divided, and parties such as that of former president Juan Manuel Santos have allowed their voters to vote for whomever they want — the Nobel Peace Prize winner said he would not comment until the end of the second round.
The former mayor of Bucaramanga counts, however, with the endorsement of the former centrist senator Ingrid Betancourt, who withdrew from running to support him, and the rightist Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez, third place (24% of the votes) who had the support from the government and traditional parties. Today these currents are divided, since Hernández projected himself as an opponent of former president and caudillo Álvaro Uribe.
Voting is not mandatory, and of the nearly 39 million registered voters only 54% turned out in the first round. According to the survey aggregator of the website La Silla Vacía, updated on the 10th, the dispute today shows a technical tie within the margin of error: Hernández has 46% of the intentions and Petro, 44%. According to surveys, the rise of the populist has to do with the adhesion of supporters of Fico and the right, although the largest parties in this spectrum have not officially spoken out.
Not that it is necessary: Uribe continues to fire posts against Petro, and leaders such as Senator María Cabal have said they will vote for Hernández because he is “the only alternative to stop the left.” Asked about the support linked to uribismo, the populist reaffirmed that he has “at least 20 differences” with the former president and that, as an independent, he “does not owe anyone anything”.
The main resistance to the caudillo’s support is in Hernández’s own region of origin, the department of Santander — of which he was mayor of the capital. “We spend our lives fighting uribismo, saying no to illegal mining, and that’s why we’re going to support Petro, who represents this fight,” said right-wing Bucaramanga councilor Danovis Lozado.
Other local leaders on this spectrum, such as Carlos Parra and Ferley Sierra, attacked Fico Gutierrez in the first round for associating with “political clans”, and now say that, with the third-placed endorsement, they will not vote for the populist. “Where the uribismo is, I will never be,” Sierra told local media.
“The same reasons that stopped Fico — the support of Uribismo and the traditional parties — can stop Hernández, who only projected himself as an anti-establishment independent. independent”, he tells Sheet the political analyst Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, at the Instituto di Tella.
Among intellectuals, the South African Nobel Prize in Literature John M. Coetzee expressed support for Petro, because of his platform to protect animals, as well as the French economist Thomas Piketty. Hernández has by his side names such as the Colombian essayist William Ospina.
