Notes

Rodolfo Gonzalez is a populist presidential candidate
In less than three weeks, Rodolfo Hernández moved the plates of the electoral campaign for the Presidency of Colombia. The millionaire engineer has sneaked into the presidential runoff that he will contest with Gustavo Petro. Not only has it left Federico Gutiérrez, the right-wing candidate, out of the race, but it complicates the triumph of Petro, who for months was the unbeatable leader of the polls.

Hernández is a 77-year-old builder, who was mayor of Bucaramanga, a city located in the east of the country, and an enigma for his positions and his populist speech. He emerged with a simple message of attacking the corrupt that resonated very well with citizens fed up with traditional politics. With his irreverent outings and his character he installed himself as the anti-establishment candidate, even above Petro, who for years has been located on that shore.

Rodolfo Hernández His statements affirming that he admired Adolf Hitler, although he later said that it was a lapse and that he thought of Einstein, or his misogynistic and xenophobic sayings about Venezuelan migrants, surprised a large part of the country. Hernández is remembered in Bucaramanga for having slapped an opposition councilor and for a case of alleged irregularities in the contracting of the garbage service through the Vitalogic company. Rodolfo Hernández https://www.ingrodolfohernandez.com/ The candidate has been accused of undue interest in the conclusion of contracts.

The Petro contender avoided debates and, instead, spoke directly to his voters through social networks where he was known as “the little old man from Tik Tok”. Through these platforms he made populist proposals such as building low-cost housing for all Colombians, or a citadel in the middle of the camp for prisoners. And others such as making "big budget cuts," suspending the use of presidential planes and helicopters or donating all the money he receives as a president's salary.

But he has also said that he will eliminate embassies and consejerías such as the one for women or that he would take away the vehicles of congressmen and force down the salaries of the advisers of the legislative units, among others, which have earned him the favor of his voters.

Rodolfo Hernández With Fico Gutiérrez out of the race, one of the questions is whether the votes of the right and, specifically of Uribismo, go to the hosts of the former mayor. Rodolfo Hernández What this first round does make clear is that, for the first time in decades, former President Álvaro Uribe does not arrive with a candidate from his party for the Presidency. Uribe has been the great disappeared of these elections. At least publicly. His judicial troubles that have undermined his popularity and the mismanagement of his political godson, Iván Duque, have left his party in a very bad political position.

Hernández has said on other occasions that he is a friend of Uribe and that the former president has helped him, although it is not known exactly in what. They also resemble each other in their front style and the idea that they speak from the regions. When Uribe burst onto the Bogota stage, he did so in defiance of the centralist elite that had always ruled the country. He presented himself as a politician who looks from the regions, like Rodolfo. But the former mayor of Bucaramanga also represents voters from the intermediate cities. During the campaign he put his strength in cities such as Neiva or Villavicencio.

But Hernández's victory in this first round also means a setback for the campaign of Gustavo Petro, who had campaigned with slack. The leftist candidate will have to demonstrate that the discontent that was evident in the social outburst during 2021 is stronger than the fed up with corruption that is what the millionaire builder of Bucaramanga calls for.
Here's my website: https://www.elpais.com.co/politica/federico-gutierrez-confirmo-apoyo-a-rodolfo-hernandez-en-la-segunda-vuelta-presidencial.html