Colombian election results: Against the establishment, for the left and for democracy | Colombia Presidential Election

Colombia exited in the first round Presidential election Known for being different from waking up in the mall. Citizens are rallying to change the dual change that was already apparent in the previous election: the left and away from the political establishment.

Eight years ago, the traditional right wing united around former President Alvaro Europe and the Conservative Party received nearly half the vote. Today, ‘Fico ‘Gutierrez raised only 24%. Meanwhile, leftists have risen from 15% with Clara Lopez Obrador to the 40.5% that Gustavo Pedro has reached today. Meanwhile, the center represented by Sergio Fazardo and Humberto de la Calle equalized Petro in 2018. But its failure this year coincides with the rise of the left. Meanwhile, Rodolfo Hernandez may have absorbed a significant amount of the votes that were once in the traditional right.

In parallel and closely related to the above, voters are moving away from candidates who are the direct heirs of the Colombian political establishment, traditionally with the Liberal and Conservative parties (who dominated the scene from independence until the end of the 20th century). ) Then revealed around the figures of former presidents Juan Manuel Santos and Alvaro Eurip Welles. This classification was (still) more fluid than ideological, because to the extent that the candidates realized that dissatisfaction with existing representation systems and a desire for drastic change had changed the majority, almost or almost everyone wanted to define themselves. In contrast to the past. But in some this emphasis is greater, and the importance of self-location goes accordingly as opposed to institutional.

So, although we can (and should) discuss where to place the former mayor of Bogota Enrique Benolos, who became the Vice Presidential formula of the mathematician Antonas Mokas in 2010 and the successor to the presidency in 2014, it is difficult to question. Former President Santos is in the extreme position of traditional politics and Gustavo Pedro or as we can identify Rodolfo Hernandez They are in another, or at least want to define themselves against the same traditional politics. Between the two they add two-thirds of the votes recorded today. If you add Sergio Fazardo, who tried to wrap himself in the same flag for ten years without enough victory to advance to the second round, there are 7 votes out of 10 recorded.

Colombia has voted for a change, but does not agree on what it will be. From there the race goes on until the second round. With traditional rights displaced, the most important definition of populism is between decisions understood and understood: sites that see themselves as representatives of the will of the people and translators against a corrupt elite.

Although the leader of the historic agreement has been on the path to moderation for decades, Pedro’s left is irreversible: through redistribution, intervention and protectionism in the economy. Also, at least on paper, progressive, though a few voices (especially from women like her former vice presidential partner Angela Maria Robledo) do not question her relationship with personal liberties.

Rodolfo is not ideologically defined, but because of his current voter base (according to the Brazilian poll Atlas Intel, a majority of his electorate came out in support of President Evan Duke, who will leave in 2018) and the responses and messages he received during the campaign for his rule in Bukharamanga were consistent with his conservative stance on personal freedom. But they care little about it, and above all focus on describing the entire political establishment as corrupt and providing “solutions” to “problems.” (His title, he wears a standard prefix to his name) More than a politician. Parallels are hard to find, but either Naib Bukele (whom he quoted on one occasion) or Silvio Berlusconi, who came to power in Italy in the early 1990s against a “corrupt elite”, can do the trick.

What Columbia did was a complete rejection of both moderation and continuity. Of course, neither candidate can win without access to the center (ideologically center-left in Colombia, as many have said or thought) or formed an alliance with the establishment. But the important difference from the previous candidates is that both have structured their lives from their respective fringes of the political system, and it should come as no surprise that at some point they will be forced to choose between the new alliances they want and the old base. Were loyal to their essences.

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