The coalition of progressive parties and movements that succeeded in getting Gustavo Petro to become President of the Republic and have a large representation in Congress has disintegrated in the face of the territorial elections.
The alliance of Historical Pact, As a strategy to end what they perceive as a hegemony in the government of the traditional parties and consolidate a political project, it failed in the case of the Atlantic and the struggle is becoming increasingly apparent.
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Disagreements over the democratic mechanisms that would be used to determine the lists of candidates for governor, mayors, councils and assemblies to be elected on October 29 ultimately led to the blowing up of the Covenant.
National-level alliance leaders had ordered that the closed-list strategy be used in the case of corporations. These would be led by whoever currently held a seat and then a quota would be defined for each move.
Most members of the Pact, especially the less representative progressive alternative movements, described this decision as undemocratic, arguing that the biggest beneficiaries of the Democratic Pole, Corn and Colombia Humana; that is, they would end up working for the candidates of those parties and getting far from representation. In the end, the big fish devoured the small ones.
Fulfilling the agreed commitments, they decided to take a chance and integrate the lists according to national guidelines. However, a large number of telephone calls, more than twenty meetings and calls for orders from the central level were not enough to calm things down and discontent spilled over into the public sphere.
The first to speak openly about the dissatisfaction with the conformation of the lists was the councilor of Barranquilla for him Democratic Pole Recer Lee Pérez, who thought he should be head of his current seat and not Andrea Vargas, daughter of Colombian leader Humana Iván Vargas.
After difficult discussions, Pérez managed to respect that he was head of the list for the district council, but the crisis was exacerbated by the battle for the following positions. Neither the agreement nor the national guidelines were respected.
From then on, the leaders who had played a key role in voting for Gustavo Petro, especially in the… southeast of Barranquilla, began to seek support from the national guidelines of the Historical Pact, including congressmen, to try and consolidate an agreement that would benefit everyone. The lists for the Council of Barranquilla and the General Assembly had to be drawn up.
In context: They did all that because he is my son: Gustavo Petro in the Nicolás case
However, the phone between Barranquilla And Bogota started to show interference. A few Pact leaders listened. Few answered the calls to the leaders. Those closest to President Petro cut off all communications. At the time, even the officials of the ministries did not heed the calls of those who were regarded at the time of the elections as the “friends of Petro”.
A short time later, the scandal broke Nicholas Petroson of the president. The allegations of illegal money entering the campaign, via Colombia Humana candidate Máximo Noriega, fell like a bucket of cold water, especially among those who used money from their pockets or made a cow among the militants to organize political rallies. to promote promotion Petro’s candidacies and of those who aspired to a seat in Congress.
The militants expressed their dissatisfaction and disappointment with the scandals involving people close to the president.
With this panorama, the discussions for the candidacies and the lists are sent to the Barranquilla council and the Assembly grew fierce. There was no dialogue, everything was chaos. From Bogotá there were only questions, no mediation to reach a solution. Support for a possible candidacy of Máximo Noriega for governor gradually faded. The break was a fact.
Failing to agree, several candidates submitted their names on open lists endorsed by their own parties or progressive movements. The Historical Pact presented theirs. There was also no agreement for the government. The name Máximo Noriega was not endorsed, despite the fact that it was chosen in internal consultation. Some leaders believed there was manipulation in the process; others went further, pointing out that an interviewee was not the candidate of the Historical Pact.
Also read: Petro attacks Javier Milei and compares him to Hitler
For his part, he Alternative Democratic Pole He backed out of any agreement and announced his support for Alfredo Varela for the governor’s office, a decision that eventually won the backing of the Historical Pact of Bogotá. With this decision, the other victim was Antonio Bohórquez, candidate for mayor of Barranquilla, who lost the support of progressive parties and movements.
Source: El Heraldo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
