In March, when Ángel Becassino, 74, accepted a request from Rodolfo Hernández, 77, to help him in the presidential campaign, the populist candidate was in fifth place in the polls.
The Argentine strategist, based in Colombia since 2000, had already worked in 2014 with Juan Manuel Santos, in the election in which the now ex-president emerged victorious, and in 2018 with Gustavo Petro, in the election in which the leftist was defeated by Iván Duque. . Now, Becassino is responsible for the strategy that made Hernández shoot until the second round, whose voting takes place next Sunday (19).
“I work with different candidates. I don’t see any contradiction in having campaigned for Petro and now being on the other side,” Becassino told Sheet, by phone. “Petro has changed a lot, put on a lot of makeup, is trying too hard to look like someone else. The other day I saw him in an advertising photo and he looked like a model from [grife] Armani. I don’t like these things, Rodolfo is Rodolfo, there’s no makeup.”
The idea of turning him into the “old man of TikTok” proved to be efficient among young people, and Becassino says that the investment in the popular social network was mainly due to a lack of funds for the campaign.
“We have 10% of the budget of the main candidates. TikTok is cheap and offers a more relaxed image than what Rodolfo really is. an ordinary Colombian. It’s worked so far.”
What didn’t work out, says the strategist, is the press’s “need for comparison” to define who Hernández is. “They take pains to label it as [o presidente do Brasil Jair] Bolsonaro, [o deputado argentino Javier] Milei, [o líder de El Salvador Nayib] bukele, [o ex-presidente dos EUA Donald] Trump. Everywhere I get asked this. I just have to say, again, that Rodolfo is Rodolfo.”
The comparisons are due, for example, to the sexist statements of the candidate, such as “the ideal would be for women to dedicate themselves to raising children at home” and “people don’t like women involved in government”, which the marketer says are ” easy to dribble.” “What he says about women sounds sexist, of course. But he doesn’t say that he will go against their rights or that he will get involved in it. On the contrary, he will promote improvements in issues important to them, such as work, food, wages, education. .”
Becassino also recalls that Hernández promises to pay attention to the issue of the “desplazados”, who had to leave their homes and move to other parts of the country due to the conflict with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and other guerrillas, such as the ELN (National Liberation Army), a problem that affected a total of seven million people, most of whom were women.
“A sector may consider what he said machismo, be angry, but most will identify [com as propostas]. Now, he will continue to think what he thinks about women, you have to accept that.”
The political context in Colombia, says the strategist, has been a positive factor in the rise of Hernández, as former president Álvaro Uribe, once the owner of decisive influence, is at a low ebb, as the lack of popularity of the current leader of the country, a political godson of his proves it. Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez, the candidate who had the support of the government, was overtaken by Hernández in the final stretch of the first round.
On the other hand, Becassino admits that the scenario also favors Petro, since the Colombian environment is one of political change. For him, however, the figure of the leftist he helped sell four years ago “still generates a lot of fear, even though he has been trying and doing everything to assuage those fears.” “It looks like you’re pushing the envelope to appear moderate. Colombia isn’t about to change too fast, and Hernández could be the answer to that. Ordinary Colombians know that.”
Asked about the absence of the populist candidate in the debates, the marketer says that, in the first round, they were not worth it. “The meetings turned into battles between neighborhood gangs.” For the final round, the will that Becassino said there was in the campaign to participate in the events evaporated with the justification that “Petro was aggressive against the candidacy of Hernández.”
On Thursday (16), he again refused to participate in a debate, even after the Colombian justice determined that there should be a meeting for voters to hear the candidates’ proposals. “I conclude any possibility of following the decision of the Justice”, he said, on social media.
