Pre-election polls showed that left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda (Ivan Sepeda) is receiving strong support due to the popularity of the combative outgoing president Gustavo Petro. However, he is challenged by far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella (Abelardas del la Esprielja) and conservative Senator Paloma Valencia (Paloma Valensija).
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If, as expected, no candidate wins an absolute majority on Sunday, a second round of elections will be held on June 21, where the two candidates with the most votes will compete.
These elections are widely seen as a referendum on the first left-wing Colombian president G. Petro’s “total peace” strategy. He tried but failed to convince guerrilla groups that rejected the historic 2016 peace agreement to finally lay down their arms.
Although his name is not on the ballot, “the campaign revolves around Petro,” said Yann Basset (Janas Basetas), a political science professor at Rosario University in Bogotá.
“He is at the center of all discussions,” he added.
Car bombings, drone attacks, and the assassination of a presidential candidate marked this polarizing leader’s four-year term, and experts say guerrillas have used peace talks to strengthen their positions.
Whoever replaces G. Petro will have to face numerous criminal groups involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion.
However, unemployment in the country has decreased, and the government has raised the minimum wage, which helps G. Petro’s protégé I. Cepeda.
The son of a communist leader killed by paramilitary groups, I. Cepeda was one of the architects of the 2016 peace agreement, after which the Marxist rebel army FARC was formed.
He promised to continue pursuing “total peace” and expanding social programs in a highly unequal society.
“Today power is in our hands, the people’s. We do not want the return of oligarchy and bourgeoisie,” said 60-year-old former leftist fighter Jose Cruzas (Chosė Krusas).
Right-wing opponents
However, dialogue with guerrillas is not favored by I. Cepeda’s right-wing opponents, who hope that fears about security will help push the left out of power.
Polls show that in the second round I. Cepeda may face off against millionaire lawyer A. de la Espriella.
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A. de la Espriella, nicknamed “The Tiger” and an admirer of US President Donald Trump, wants to fight armed groups in the air, on land, and at sea – echoing the tough crime-fighting rhetoric that has recently led to a wave of right-wing victories in Latin America.
“De la Espriella wants to bring order at home,” said 47-year-old former soldier Wilmer Bolivar (Vilmeras Bolivar) to AFP news agency.
Conservative Senator P. Valencia, a close ally of former President Alvaro Uribe, advocates the same militarized approach.
“We will end ‘total peace’ to establish total security,” she said during the election campaign.
Frightened voters
Despite increased fears of bloodshed, the election day itself is expected to pass peacefully.
“Even criminal organizations unilaterally declare ceasefires before elections so that they can proceed peacefully,” said Alvaro Echeverry, a judge of the National Electoral Council.
The eight-hour voting will end at 4 p.m. local time (midnight Lithuanian time), and results are expected two hours later.
To ensure security, the government has deployed 408,000 law enforcement officers.
Colombia remains the world’s largest cocaine producer, and drug trafficking is the main reason why the level of violence in the country is the highest in the past decade.
Last year’s assassination of right-wing candidate Miguel Uribe, blamed on leftist guerrilla groups, caused many Colombians to worry about a return to the dark times of the past.
At the end of April, a bomb explosion on a highway in the southwestern Cauca region killed 21 people. It was the deadliest attack on civilians in decades. The group responsible later said it was a “tactical mistake.”
The next president must provide “a bit of spiritual calm, a bit of peace, because the current situation causes great concern. There are very, very many conflicts,” said 57-year-old housewife Maria Eugenia Motato from Suarez, Cauca region.
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