Since Sunday night Federico Fico Gutierrez had been the most solid candidate for Colombia’s presidency. It’s not the first time his name appears on the election ballot. In fact, he was both the mayor and councilor of Medellin. It was his first national election. The Team for Colombia coalition won more than two-million votes. They believe he could be a candidate of the right-wing movements. Fico (47 years old) is currently the primary opponent of Gustavo Petro. His victory through the Historic Pact movement made him one of the most well-known politicians in Colombia.
https://anotepad.com/notes/564xt88h for president is just beginning. If the former mayor of Medellin is the real counterweight to petrismo depends on the alliances and agreements which he develops in the coming days. He won’t be expected to bring together all the right-wing forces under his command as well as be able to win over a segment of the electorate in the center, which was sunk on Sunday with any extraordinary leadership. To do this it is necessary to avoid his past mistakes to date being in the same picture with former President Alvaro Uribe. Today, for the first time in 20 years, the open support of uribism, rather than adding, may reduce. “Federico Gutierrez faces a dilemma. He is required to make an alliance, on Uribe’s side along with the Democratic Center. However, the challenge is convincing Uribe as well as the center which must decide on its direction,” Yann basset, analyst at the University of Rosario.
Fico that is a coalition partner with the CD where uribism is concentrated has made its first triumph on the road to an alliance. Oscar Ivan Zuluaga who was previously the presidential aspirant took a step back to acknowledge the few chances he had of competing with him. The next step is to check if the Uribismo group – that is without a representative elected follows suit. http://b3.zcubes.com/v.aspx?mid=8333728 should be open to his support and attempt to convince his supporters by addressing the traditional questions of Colombian right. This shouldn’t be difficult. He already proved that he could make a difference by making a speech regarding “security”,” “order”, and “love for the fatherland”. Similar to what he said during his appointment as Antioquia’s mayor and he confirmed this with the electoral consultation. He claimed, “The bandits were either in prison or grave,” while he was visiting Arauca, a region that is particularly vulnerable to violence. Fico knows what the Colombian right likes, but it will not suffice for Fico.
Basset pointed out that “We’re not in the year 2018 when the fear generated by the left was effective,” and that the electorate has not been moved by the fear this time. Basset stresses that Fico may not be able to get Uribe’s approval because Alvaro Uribe is no longer a holder of the title of the absolute leader since 2002, when the country chose him as president. However, this doesn’t mean that Uribismo’s votes Uribismo, even if they fall below the table, are not indispensable to Gutierrez, as happened this Sunday or during his first effort to gain access to the office of the mayor of Medellin in the past, when Uribe supported him even over the candidate of his party. Uribism contributed to the victory [in the coalition]. Basset warns that his capacity to negotiate will be measured. He has to convince the right, but not spend all of it on the alliance. Andres Mejia Vergnaud, analyst, comments on the relationship between Fico and former president. “The biggest problem to Federico Gutierrez, however, is that he wants Uribismo’s votes but not Uribe’s image because it’s not his style to be his choice.”
Gustavo Petro is the only leader on the left, but Gustavo Petro is the only one on the right. Fico, if he can negotiate, will convince him to give his backing and then take a step back. Rodolfo Sanchez, who campaigned independently, is still in the running. Former mayor of Bucaramanga builter and millionaire, who been able to present himself well in the polls due to his speech against corruption in a lighthearted manner and is a candidate Gutierrez should include on his list of achievements if he wants to give the fight to petrismo.
Gutierrez has plenty of work to do before he is even considering the names of his presidential formula. But what Gutierrez already has is support of other candidates running for the leadership of the Team for Colombia alliance. This isn’t a small sum. There are by his side two former mayors, Enrique Penalosa (Bogota) and Alex Char (Barranquilla); the leader of the Conservative party, David Barguil, and an individual woman named Aydee Lizarazo, of the Christian party who typically is a judicious voter, as directed from the lectern of his church.
In addition to the resurgence of the Conservative Party – it achieved the largest vote of the right-wing parties for Congress with over two million votes – it is also backed by the U Party, which also received a rousing vote in the legislative with more than a million votes. Oscar Ivan Zuluaga supported Fico and didn’t hesitate for too long after the elections on Sunday to concede defeat ahead of a potential clash with the votes of the right. However, this provides Fico an extra boost within the conservative wing but keeps him far away from the middle. What former President Alvaro Uribe says, who summoned his party for a meeting on Tuesday and will be the final point to know if Fico risks his chances to be a center-right candidate by being the Uribe’s blessing.