Gustavo Petro wants to clear the way to the presidency of Colombia. He was never as close or as well placed in an electoral race as he is now. In the process, he is getting rid of burdens, in this case Senator Piedad Córdoba, one of his historical allies and a favorite target of the right. Petro has asked this Wednesday, through from twitter, to stop campaigning for him until he resolves the legal problems in which he is involved. More Petrista than Petro himself, Córdoba is left alone and without the cloak of legitimacy that being close to her favorite in the polls gave her.
The decision represents a turn in Petro’s strategy, which until now had kept Córdoba at all costs in the Historical Pact, the alliance of leftist movements. She mediated on her day between the FARC and the government of President Álvaro Uribe to free politicians kidnapped by the guerrillas. Her role, however, has always been surrounded by controversy. Years later, one of her advisers has accused her of taking advantage of her relationship with Hugo Chávez and the rebel commanders to delay the release of victims like Ingrid Betancourt, who spent six years kidnapped in the jungle.
The prosecution, it was learned in February, accuses her of maintaining an agreement with Chavismo and the FARC themselves to increase her popularity and turn Córdoba into a politician capable of reaching the presidency of Colombia. Maduro, according to a book by journalist Gerardo Reyes, consulted a Venezuelan seer if the plan was viable and the medium was categorical: Córdoba was going to reach the top. According to this same story, she also introduced Maduro to Colombian businessman Alex Saab, now detained in the United States. The rest of the story is known. Córdoba has always denied any interest with the guerrilla beyond obtaining the release of the hostages. Her lawyer points out that there is no solid evidence to incriminate her.
With these accusations behind him, several open judicial processes and a brother requested in extradition by the United States, Petro still kept her this year in a privileged place on his Senate lists. She has been elected for the next four years, until 2026. What has happened now that she wants to get rid of her shadow? Surely it has a lot to do with the black Holy Week that Petro has experienced.
His brother visited some prisoners a week before. He did it as part of a humanitarian commission that visits prisons to check the treatment received by inmates. When this visit became known, the brother explained badly about his intentions inside, then Petro did not fully clarify either (he theorized with Jacques Derrida’s concept of social forgiveness) and his opponents took the opportunity to accuse him of plotting reductions in sentences for politicians imprisoned for corruption in exchange for votes. The left-wing candidate has spent a whole week trying to clear up these suspicions. A judicial decision against Córdoba in the coming weeks would be another blow to the campaign. Before that can happen, he has thrown her overboard.
Sometimes it is not easy to determine who is the victim or perpetrator in Colombia. Córdoba herself was kidnapped in 1999 by paramilitaries. She later spent 16 years in Congress as part of the Liberal Party and then she faced an accusation of her alleged links with the FARC. The prosecutor’s office disqualified her, although six years later her decision was revoked. Her political career has been very eventful ever since. For some sectors, Córdoba is an ogre who took advantage of a crime as reprehensible as kidnapping to make a profit. For others, someone who in the midst of the conflict took a risk to help his country and the hostages. Whatever it is, the seer who predicted a tinsel future for him couldn’t be more wrong. Around the corner she awaited fire and fury.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe
Follow all the international information in Facebook Y Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.
#Gustavo #Petro #drops #Piedad #Córdoba #historical #ally #campaign #presidency #Colombia