JEveryone knows the movie scene in which Forrest Gump goes on an endurance run. Colombia’s presidential candidate Rodolfo Hernández has made the scene his own – on Tiktok, the short video platform popular with young people. Hernández’s face is mounted over that of Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks) quite simply, the dialogues have been adapted.
Hernández himself would not run a kilometer. The contractor and former mayor of Bucaramanga is 77 years old. And yet it resonates with many young Colombians. Half a million users viewed the video, giving Hernández a rather mediocre rating. Other videos have been clicked millions of times. His campaign on social media was going so well that he didn’t feel the need to organize campaign events. These are constructed, people are paid for their participation, he once said. Hernández also stayed away from the television debates.
Even without a presence in the established media, the political career changer, who was initially branded as an absolute outsider, made it into the runoff election. With 28 percent of the vote, he achieved a better result than the conservative Federico Gutiérrez (24 percent) on Sunday and will now face left-wing Gustavo Petro on June 19, who was able to clearly set himself apart from his fellow campaigners with 40 percent of the vote. However, after Gutiérrez has already sided with Hernández, the “Tiktok Grandpa” is now the favorite for the runoff. After the lost election, Gutiérrez described Petro as a “danger to democracy, freedom, the economy and the family”, which is why Hernández should be elected.
Petro was once a guerrilla member
Petro, a young member of the socialist urban guerrilla M-19, has probably already largely exhausted his potential. He only has a chance if he manages to mobilize masses of non-voters and if at the same time enthusiasm for his opponent Hernández dwindles. This is theoretically possible, about 45 percent of those entitled to vote did not vote in the first ballot, which is normal for Colombia.
However, Hernández is not Petro’s preferred opponent. The left-wing senator was preparing for a classic fight against the “establishment” on which he has channeled Colombian discontent throughout his campaign. Hernández does the same. He, too, does not belong to the country’s political elite, which is blamed for all the problems. He doesn’t stick to conventions, gives interviews in his pyjamas, chooses coarse language, insults his opponents, is emphatically politically incorrect – or authentic, as his supporters believe. Many analysts compare him to Donald Trump. In fact, his political situation is comparable: Hernández is conservative, but rebels against the conservative “establishment”, which votes for him anyway.
Exactly where Hernández stands politically is not easy to classify. He is conservative-liberal, but has relatively progressive views on some issues, such as decriminalizing drug use. Hernández is also responsible for peace negotiations with the “National Liberation Army” (ELN), which is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of his own daughter almost 20 years ago. He has been critical of the subject of fracking, which is in line with Petro’s claim to sustainability and environmental protection.
On many issues, however, Hernández remains fuzzy or changes his mind. In the past, he once expressed his admiration for Adolf Hitler, only to correct himself years later. He meant Albert Einstein. Even the fight against corruption led by him and his self-founded party, the Anti-Corruption League, is not free of contradictions. Hernández himself is involved in a corruption case, but denies ever having stolen “a peso”. Petro says corruption can’t be fought on Tiktok, but the campaign against Hernández follows no rules. In any case, the first ballot shows the dissatisfaction of the Colombians with the “old politics” and the desire for change. However, mistrust of Petro and his desire for socialism remains very high.
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