The Hope Center Coalition has gotten used to sailing through the storm. Although in their original agreement the candidates intended to campaign in a “fraternal and loyal” manner, the alliance has been characterized by turmoil and disagreements. With this background, the five candidates from the bloc settled their differences this Wednesday in the debate organized by Caracol Radio and EL PAÍS, and closed ranks in defense of Sergio Fajardo against the trials he is facing, which they all agreed to label as political persecution.
Fajardo, followed by Juan Manuel Galán and Alejandro Gaviria, start as favorites to take the sole candidacy in the March 13 consultation, with a considerable distance over Jorge Enrique Robledo and Carlos Amaya. The coalition remains a competitive option in the electoral campaign, but the public clashes between pre-candidates –the most recent between Galán and Amaya– have left in the air a feeling of fragility that they tried to give up.
The debate, moderated by the journalist Diana Calderón, began with the exaltation of teamwork. “Colombia is afraid, and it deserves a change with hope,” said Fajardo, who has been mayor of Medellin and governor of Antioquia, recalling the citizen movement that brought him to power to lead the transformation of Colombia’s second city. “We have a great responsibility to govern with a collective leadership and with the best”, said Galán, emphasizing that, whoever wins, they propose a coalition government. “I have knowledge of the main issues in the country,” Gaviria asserted, highlighting his credentials as an academic and his well-known liberal vision, while Robledo emphasized the need to make changes to the economic model.
The Esperanza Center Coalition brings together politicians who oppose the extremes represented by the leftist Gustavo Petro, on one side, and the continuity of the right in power, on the other. Despite the obvious nuances, it didn’t take long for coincidences to appear when discussing climate change and environmental policy.
“Our great global responsibility has to do with deforestation, we have to stop deforestation” and keep the Amazon intact, Gaviria said, an appreciation that everyone agreed on. The militarization of the problem, focused on attacking the weakest links, does not work, he diagnosed in a criticism of the current government. The former Minister of Health has promoted the issue in the public debate since he flew over the Colombian Amazon in October, and other members of the coalition also visited the area, hit in this new year by forest fires, last week. Robledo emphasized that deforestation breaks the water cycle, and Fajardo the need to work with the communities. They all rejected the frackingexcept for Gaviria, who clarified that he would wait for the evidence before making the decision.
In the worst of the many turbulences they have gone through, Ingrid Betancourt noisily left the alliance last month, after having put both Alejandro Gaviria, with whom she faced in a debate, and the other candidates with whom she competed on the ropes. . Her departure left the bloc without women candidates, a deficit they have recognized.
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Asked about his gender policies, Galán invoked his party’s Senate list, the New Liberalism, which includes prominent figures such as the journalist Mabel Lara and the academic Sandra Borda and is known as a “zipper” list, which mix women and men. Gaviria highlighted the prevention of teenage pregnancy and recalled that, among his liberal positions, he has strongly supported the voluntary termination of pregnancy. At his turn, Fajardo recalled the leading role that female officials have had in his administrations, and as president, he plans to create a women’s ministry.
When solving the crisis due to the departure of Betancourt, the coalition chose to emphasize its opposition character against the Government of Iván Duque. That character was also evident in the debate when Javier Lafuente, deputy director of EL PAÍS América, asked them if they would restore relations with neighboring Venezuela, completely broken by the current Administration.
“The normalization of relations with Venezuela cannot wait any longer,” said Galán, who pointed out the need to summon the world’s solidarity in the face of the migratory crisis that has led 1.7 million Venezuelans to settle on the other side of the border. border. “Colombia has to be a leading player in the democratic transition that is coming in Venezuela,” Gaviria seconded, while criticizing the ideologization of foreign policy in the Duque government. “We are so bad that the president goes more to Europe than to Cúcuta,” Amaya lashed out, referring to the main border city. All five considered the current foreign policy a failure.
There was space to air the recent differences between Galán and Amaya. The candidate of the New Liberalism asked the ex-governor of Boyacá for explanations about the appointments of people close to him in the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá, and he asked him about the merits of his relatives to hold various public positions. “We as a coalition want to be different (…) differentiating ourselves from those other two coalitions where there are pacts of silence in the face of questions as serious as vote buying,” said Galán, referring to the serious accusations faced by the former mayor of Barranquilla Alex Char. “One thing is to live off the State and another is to work for the State”, he defended himself in a friendly tone. “The people who work in the district do it on merit,” Amaya replied. “I shake his hand and tell him: I trust sumercé,” he settled with that peasant expression widely used in Boyacá.
Everyone closed ranks in defense of Sergio Fajardo when they asked him about the two lawsuits against him for his actions as governor of Antioquia, one for not having anticipated the volatility of the dollar when acquiring a loan and the other for the Hidroituango energy megaproject. “I am responsible for all my actions,” said Fajardo, who has denounced a political persecution that seeks to tarnish his name by the control bodies in the hands of people close to President Duque. “I am not going to let myself be taken out by the corrupt,” he added. The support was unanimous. “Sergio’s presence in the Colombian democratic debate is fundamental,” Gaviria supported him.
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