Controversial Elections in Colombia
Last Sunday, presidential elections took place in Colombia. At first glance, this might not seem like earth-shattering breaking news, but the results could be of great significance. Firstly, we don’t yet have definitive results; we only know who the two remaining candidates are, who will battle for the presidency in a run-off election on 17 June. And two candidates could not be more different… A commentary by Karl von Habsburg.
But first, a brief look at the country: Colombia has the highest number of refugees in the world! However, these are mostly internally displaced persons, people driven from their land in a horrific guerrilla war, or caught in the conflict between cocaine cartels. To these so-called IDPs (Internally Displaced People), numbering around seven million, are now added refugees from Venezuela, attempting to escape the communist chaos system there. And all yearn for nothing more than stability in the region, hoping to possibly return home.
One must also not forget Colombia’s recent history. The outgoing President Santos sought reconciliation with FARC, one of Latin America’s worst communist terrorist organisations. This group had terrorised the country for over six decades with attacks and kidnappings. Growing weary over time, most FARC leaders retreated to Cuba to conduct negotiations from there. President Santos’s stated goal was to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He was willing to subordinate almost everything to this. Thus, he proceeded to accept things like complete impunity for FARC violent criminals, but also matters highly questionable for a democracy, such as a guaranteed blocking minority in the Colombian parliament for FARC representatives. When the agreement was put to a referendum, its proponents remained clearly in the minority, which, however, did not prevent Santos from implementing it anyway.
The two candidates for the run-off now come from two camps that could not be more different. To gain a majority, Gustavo Petro, who secured 25% of the votes in the first round, must convince his voters to elect a former Marxist M-19 rebel, who is also an avowed fan of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. His opponent, Ivan Duque, who led with 39% in the first round, is considered an epigone of former conservative President Alvaro Uribe. He is an outspoken opponent of many passages of the peace agreement with FARC. He is regarded as an uncompromising conservative who advocates for the destruction of coca seeds and crops, but also strongly opposes same-sex marriage and abortion.
It is not insignificant who becomes president in Colombia. The zone of uncertainty in Latin America is already too vast. Venezuela is increasingly transforming into a communist-dominated chaotic state that can no longer even provide its population with basic necessities. In Nicaragua, too, the president is a former guerrilla leader whose population yearns for less corruption and more stability, expressing this through massive demonstrations. Colombia is too large and too significant for its presidential election to be dismissed as a side issue.
