Bogota Colombia — Colombians are voting in the first round on Sunday Presidential election of South American nationChoosing between candidates with radically different visions for the future of peace in a country wracked by decades of armed conflict.
This vote was seen as a referendum on the outgoing President Gustavo Petro Policies come after 10 years Colombia Signed a historic peace agreement with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
That agreement offered hope for the nation to break out of the vicious cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government, but violence has since increased again and reached a peak. In the lead up to the presidential vote. Criminal groups have increasingly launched drone attacks, armed attacks have affected the race and last June, the 39-year-old politician and presidential candidate miguel uribe turbe Fatally shot at a political rally.
In a country where fighting for peace has long been part of the political ethos, the question of how to address the conflict is once again dividing the country.
There are 14 candidates on the ballot, but the election has basically turned into a three-horse race.
Senator and peacemaker Iván Cepeda – a Petro ally – has led the way in the polls and has promised to move forward with Petro “Complete Peace” Initiative Negotiating with the remaining rebel groups in the country and signing peace agreements with them in an effort to resolve the continuing crisis.
While the peace plan has largely failed as criminals have taken advantage of the ceasefire with the government, Cepeda and Petro have maintained strong support among many due to the progressive policies put forward under Petro, such as boosting the minimum wage.
Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia are running against Cepeda, who has vowed to crack down on armed groups.
De la Espriella – an aggressive lawyer known as “The Tiger” – has gained popularity among voters in recent weeks for presenting himself as an outsider willing to emulate the heavy-handed tactics used in El Salvador’s war on gangs, which sharply reduced gang violence but fueled allegations of human rights abuses.
Valencia is considered a political dependency of Colombia. Former President and strongman Álvaro UribeWho ruled from 2002 to 2010 with strong support from the United States and whose government defeated FARC rebels in an offensive that resulted in massive civilian casualties.
Both de la Espriella and Valencia have expressed their affinity for the US President donald trump Even though he has taken a more aggressive approach toward Latin America than any US president in decades and has pressured countries like Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico to crack down more heavily on criminal groups.
If no candidate wins at least 50% of the vote – which is extremely rare in Colombia – the two top vote-getters will face a runoff in June.
María Eugenia, a 57-year-old woman sewing a pair of jeans Friday in downtown Bogota, Colombia’s capital, said she welcomes an all-out attack on the growing group of criminal groups, regardless of the human cost.
While she approved of Petro’s efforts to improve the country’s medical infrastructure, she said she was voting for de la Esprilla because violence in rural areas of the country has gotten out of control.
“Of course, whenever you come down with a heavy hand, there’s always going to be debate,” he said. “But it’s going to take some men to clean up what needs to be cleaned up.”
Others, like Cristian Morales, 26, who was walking outside his shop, shook their heads.
Although Petro’s peace plan had failed on several fronts, he said, making changes to the plan to take the country out of the cycle of violence was better than going to the other extreme.
He said he planned to vote for Cepeda in view of the candidate’s emphasis on expanding access to education rather than bold promises to protect Colombia’s biodiversity and resolve the country’s deeply entrenched conflict. Morales said this would be something he considered “impossible” to do with only four years in office as president.
“The solution to this conflict is not aggressive confrontation. It will only end in more bloodshed,” he said. “It’s very difficult because it’s either negotiations or weapons, and internal conflict is not good for anyone.”
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