A Hotly Contested Presidential Election In Colombia

 

The Outsiders

COLOMBIA

Two anti-establishment candidates are heading for a runoff following this weekend’s presidential election, one that dealt a major blow to Colombia’s political class, Axios reported.

Leftist Senator Gustavo Petro secured more than 40 percent of the vote, while his right-wing populist rival Rodolfo Hernandez came in second with slightly more than 28 percent. A candidate needed more than 50 percent to avoid a runoff, which will take place on June 19.

Analysts said the elections have become among the most consequential in Colombia’s history, and could set the country on an uncharted path, according to the New York Times.

Petro, a former mayor of Bogota and rebel fighter, vowed to fight inequality and overhaul Colombia’s economy by implementing tax reforms and other measures. These include offering free university education and opposing the expansion of the fossil fuel industry. He has consistently led the polls ahead of Sunday’s election and a Petro victory could set up a clash with the United States – Colombia’s closest ally.

Meanwhile, Hernandez’s gains surprised many observers, who noted that the candidate was relatively unknown until a few weeks ago. He has branded himself as an anti-corruption candidate and has proposed a program to reward citizens who report corruption.

Still, some criticized him as undemocratic after he suggested declaring a 90-day state of emergency and suspending all judicial and administrative functions to tackle corruption.

His second-place victory shows that many Colombians are ready to elect anyone who is not represented by the country’s mainstream conservative leaders.

Andrea Motis y Joan Chamorro acercando su música a su barrio,

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Colombia Seems Set To Elect A Leftist President

 

Return of the Repressed

COLOMBIA

A Colombian rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) announced a 10-day, unilateral ceasefire with government forces to allow voters in the South American country to cast ballots for a new president on May 29.

As Al Jazeera reported, the ELN is the largest remaining insurgent force in Colombia since the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) agreed to a 2016 peace deal ending the worst of bloody civil conflicts that had consumed the country since the 1960s. This decision could reflect how the group doesn’t want to do anything to harm the candidacy of Gustavo Petro, the former leftist mayor of Bogota, the country’s capital city.

Petro is now the frontrunner in the polls, according to Reuters. Nearly 44 percent of voters support him, compared to 27 percent of voters who said they would cast ballots for his main rival, conservative Federico Gutierrez, the former mayor of Medellin. If neither candidate receives a majority of the vote, a runoff will be held on June 19. Colombia’s President Ivan Duque, who is in the conservative camp, is ineligible to run for reelection.

A Petro victory would be a remarkable feat, analysts say. It would “overcome the dark legacy of Colombia’s hard-right oligarchy and a shameful history of US intervention,” argued Jacobin magazine, alluding to the Marxist-Leninist roots of ELN and FARC, the US-backed crackdown on communist movements in Colombia and the drug trade that complicated the fighting.

He wants to shift Colombia away from oil and coal, hike taxes on the rich, restore diplomatic relations with Venezuela – where a socialist government stands in opposition to the US influence in the region – and revisit the war on drugs. His vice-presidential candidate is black, a rarity for a higher office in Colombia.

Voters have never been this open or had the opportunity to be this open to a leftwing candidate, wrote the Financial Times. One reason for the shift is that Colombia is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America, a situation that has prompted many citizens to wonder whether US-style capitalism can help the lower classes.

Gutierrez, meanwhile, is running on a law-and-order platform, hoping that his pledges to combat cocaine production and rampant street crime will resonate. “People are tired of being robbed, of killings for a cell phone, a bicycle or a watch,” he told the crowd during an event that Bloomberg covered. “The most important thing is to guarantee security.”

Other South American countries’ voters have opted for leftwing candidates recently. Colombia’s election will, at the very least, demonstrate how much perspectives have changed over the past few decades.

Venezuela To Attract Foreign Investors

 

The Big Shrug

VENEZUELA

Venezuela is planning to attract private investors to pump money into its essential but crippled state-run firms, a move analysts consider a major reversal after the country’s socialist government seized them years ago, the Associated Press reported.

The government will begin offering five to 10 percent stakes in companies ranging from telecoms and internet services providers to petrochemical producers this week. President Nicolas Maduro said Venezuela needs the capital for the development of public companies.

His comments underscored a major U-turn from the efforts of his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chavez, who nationalized numerous companies in an effort to transform Venezuela into a socialist country.

The move could mark the first step toward returning the firms to private hands. But Maduro’s announcement did not clarify specific details about the sale, including share prices.

Analysts also questioned exactly who would purchase a minority stake in Venezuelan companies that have suffered from years of neglect and mismanagement. Some suggested that investors tied to the government could opt for such a move: They described this as a scenario similar to post-Soviet reforms in which a large number of state-owned companies were privatized.

Venezuela is currently facing a social, economic and humanitarian crisis exacerbated by plummeting oil prices and sanctions.

Government supporters and critics have continuously complained about poor government services. Analysts said the proposed changes are “largely forced by the circumstances but also largely fueled by political survival.”

Colombia-Out Of The Shadows

 

Out of the Shadows

COLOMBIA

Colombia’s largest drug cartel shut down dozens of towns in the country’s north this week and threatened to shoot all who disobeyed its stay-at-home orders, a move seen as retaliation for the extradition of the group’s leader to the United States, CBS News reported Tuesday.

Last week, the Gulf Clan issued an “armed stoppage” decree, forcing the closure of businesses and schools, and suspending intercity bus services and the delivery of gas to homes.

The criminal group warned that it would shoot people who violated the rules and torch their vehicles. Colombian authorities said more than 180 cars were burned and dozens of people were killed, including three police officers.

The decree follows the extradition of the Gulf Clan’s leader, Dairo Antonio Úsuga David – also known as Otoniel – to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking charges and allegations of assisting a far-right paramilitary group designated as a terrorist organization by the US government.

Otoniel was arrested last year in a high-profile operation involving hundreds of soldiers.

Although the situation appeared to be winding down Monday, analysts warned that the cartel’s ability to shut down towns highlighted flaws in the government’s long fight against drug trafficking organizations.

Meanwhile, the Colombian government tried to play down the cartel’s stoppage, saying that it had deployed 52,000 troops to the affected areas to protect citizens. President Ivan Duque described some of the cartel’s activities as “isolated incidents,” adding that the organization was now weaker.