Colombia: Presidential candidates hurry up searching for votes

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The leading candidates for the Presidency of Colombia intensified their tours throughout the country, visiting up to three cities on the same day to convince the electorate to vote for them in the elections on May 29, when the first round will take place.

On May 14, the candidate of the right, Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez, was in Manizales, Armenia, and Pereira, cities of the Eje Cafetero (center), the latter in the company of the Liberal Party’s head, César Gaviria, and on May 15, he visited Sincelejo (north) before closing the day in Cartagena de Indias.

Meanwhile, the favorite in the polls, Gustavo Petro of the leftist Historical Pact, toured municipalities in the Caribbean department of Sucre on May 14, where he emphasized that peasants must have support to produce more with agricultural technology, resumed his agenda this Sunday in Soacha, south of Bogota.

CHEAP CREDIT AND EDUCATION

Coinciding with the celebration of Teacher’s Day, Petro focused his speech before a crowd in Soacha on the need to bring education and cheap credit to the inhabitants of that city of about one million people, many of them displaced by violence who have come from other parts of the country.

“Soacha will not be the backyard of Bogotá, but the gateway to the Sabana (of Bogotá),” Petro said and assured that in this town, he would build “public university campuses with free educational services. Here will begin the transformation of electric mobility, here will be installed the internet as a right”.

The leftist candidate pointed out that he disagrees that the solution to building a strong economy in this municipality near the capital is the entry of multinationals that provide jobs.

“What should be brought here is not so much the multinational savior, which never arrives, but what should be brought here is cheap credit and not the “gota a gota” (“drop by drop” – an illegal credit system managed by mafias that charge very high interest rates),” he said in the main square of this municipality, the same one where 33 years ago the liberal leader Luis Carlos Galán was assassinated.

In his speech, he insisted that Colombia’s young people need to be educated and obtain credits to give life to small businesses and boost the country’s economy.

“There are young people who need university (…) Some young people need credit systems to reach the municipality of Soacha to build decent housing or entrepreneurial businesses,” he said.

Teacher’s Day was also celebrated by Sergio Fajardo, candidate of the Centro Esperanza coalition and fourth in the polls, who visited the town of San Antonio de Prado, near Medellín (northwest), where he said that “as a teacher president,” he will be in charge of “dignifying this profession so important for Colombia”.

“FICO” AND THE REGION OF LA MOJANA

On the other hand, the second in the polls, “Fico” Gutiérrez, of the right-wing coalition Team for Colombia, addressed the inhabitants of Sincelejo, the capital of Sucre.

To the crowd gathered on Avenida La Paz, “Fico” Gutiérrez promised that if he became president of Colombia, he would seek to bring education, health, employment opportunities, and a special plan for the vast peasant area of La Mojana.

La Mojana is a sub-region of some 500,000 hectares in the Caribbean departments of Bolivar, Cordoba, and Sucre that regulates the flows of the Magdalena, Cauca, and San Jorge rivers, three of the country’s most important rivers and home to some of Colombia’s poorest communities.

“I am not a messiah or a savior,” said the candidate when he said that the plan for La Mojana, which the Government has already approved, will begin to be implemented in the second half of this year and includes roads, works to mitigate the effects of climate change, as well as health and education initiatives for the people.

In the specific case of Sincelejo, he promised to create employment opportunities, health and security programs, and provide drinking water, the latter being one of the greatest needs of this regional capital.

He also pledged to expand and sustain government aid for the poorest. He even said that the current Solidarity Income plan would be converted into “a basic income for five million people”.

“In my government, no one will go hungry,” he emphasized and explained that this will be achieved by subsidizing the poorest and creating job opportunities, employment, and defending democracy.

If none of the candidates obtains half plus one of the votes on May 29, as polls indicate, the two most voted will go to a second round on June 19 to define who will be the next president of Colombia.

With information from EFE