Thousands accompany “Change” at the end of the Colombian left campaign

Colombia elections

Bogotá, 4 March (EFE). – Under the slogan “Change begins on March 13” in Colombia, thousands of people, especially young people, accompanied on Friday the closing of the campaign in Bogota for the House and Senate candidates of the left-wing historical pact and the primary candidate Gustavo Petro, the front-runner in the opinion polls.

With the music of some of the country’s major rock and rap groups, such as Attersiopelados and Dr. Crapolla, young people celebrated, with white Alliance flags, that “the charter is changing” and called for a return to government in Colombia.

“The country is with us. It is time for a change and it will be a profound, calm and serene change,” explained Maria Jose Pizarro, Maria Jose Pizarro, to a lively audience in the capital’s central Plaza de los Prioristas.

Pizarro, daughter of the historical leader of the M-19 guerrilla, Carlos Pizarro Leongomes, asserted that “Bogotá was the reserve of freedom and resistance; when the whole country was turned into uribismo, Bogotá was the resistance”.

For his part, former candidate Gustavo Petro, in a lengthy speech, called for “interest in voting” to secure a majority in Congress and then win the presidency in the first round.

“Do not go to vote for Petro for the presidency and on the other hand vote for a politician for Congress, because that will stop Petro’s reforms and it will end up giving the president a coup,” he stressed.

He repeatedly insisted that it was necessary to go to the polls to secure a majority in Congress and thus change the laws because, as he said, “there was no such popular victory.”

Likewise, he highlighted the role of al-Shabab who he said “resisted the direct attack of a country that did not want dialogue, a country that turned its back on its needs,” referring to a social outbreak in April 2021 over tax reform and the government’s alleged mismanagement in health and education.

Petro also emphasized that he wanted to be president to “change history” and laws that did not favor workers, students, and the poorest in general.

Final Campaign

The door for public submission of parties will be closed, on Sunday, before the legislative elections on March 13, as internal consultations will be held in the parties to elect their candidates for the presidential elections, whose first round will be held on May 29.

For the historic pact, a coalition of left-wing and indigenous parties, some factions of green formations and independent organizations, the scales seem to be in favor of Petro, who has already run in the second round against President Ivan Duque, and who will close his first election. Drive this Sunday in Barranquilla.

A survey conducted by Invamer on Friday revealed that Pietro is leading the vote intent and will win in rounds one and two, securing 44.6% in an alleged contest against quarterback Sergio Fajardo.

More balls

The historic charter also seeks to conquer the nine seats in the Senate and 12 in the House that they currently own and want to be the ruling party.

They will try to do so through closed and cloud lists, where male and female candidates take turns to search for parity, and also with representation of Africans, people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and of all ages and sectors.

In this way, there are candidates such as Aida Avila, leader of the historic National Union that was created in 1985 as part of a bid for a peace agreement between then-President Belisario Betancourt and the FARC.

However, in the following years, this party was the victim of a genocide in which more than 4,000 of its members were assassinated, including presidential candidates Jaime Pardo Leal (1987) and Bernardo Jaramillo Osa (1990).

Among them are former Senators Pidad Cordoba and Luz Marina Bernal, one of the representatives of the so-called “Swacha Mothers”, who lost their children, victims of extrajudicial executions by the military during the government of Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010).

Colombians will go to the polls on March 13 to elect members of the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and 16 seats for victims of armed conflict in the Chamber of Deputies, and there will also be consultations on that day in which the candidates for the Chamber of Deputies will participate. Three alliances.

The first round of presidential elections will be held on May 29, and if necessary, a second round will be held on June 19.