Petro appoints president today

By: Francisco Santos - 03/03/2025

We are still asleep and I think we will deserve our fate. Today, I repeat for the third time, Petro puts his candidate in the second round. Obviously, he then buys the definitive victory with public money, which makes the job easier for his star minister Armando Benedetti. Colombia, then, would no longer be on the edge of the abyss, but in free fall towards disaster.

Will any of the big businessmen who are worried about the future of the country wake up? Will the political leaders of the parties and even those who are already campaigning realise that we are going to lose the 2026 elections? The general naivety, to put it another way, regarding the issue never ceases to surprise me.

Everyone in the so-called opposition seems to believe that the 2026 elections are the same as the others, and it turns out they are not. The reason? There is an absolutely corrupt president and government, who without any restraint and without any consideration of any kind are going to use the national budget to buy millions of votes legally and illegally, the first through subsidies and the second with traditional purchase.

Armando Benedetti's arrival to the post of Minister of the Interior, despite his countless criminal charges for corruption and being clearly identified in the issue of violence against women, has a reason for being: to win the 2026 elections. Petro is already prepared for that electoral process and his party, the Historic Pact, obviously, is too.

How? In several ways. The first is to have a presidential candidate in October, six months before the other parties, which gives them time to make him visible, first, to buy support, second, with money and corruption, obviously, and, finally, to make him viable to win that first round. The Historic Pact has already made the decision to choose its candidate through the internal process that the Registry approved for that moment. The interparty consultation where the other two or three candidates will surely emerge will take place in March.

Who will be the candidate of the Pact? Petro has made it very clear with everything he is doing in trying to revive the M-19 imagery. The thing about the hat, the thing about the flags, the thing about Pizarro, the thing about Bateman and his degradation when compared to Benedetti have a proper name: María José Pizarro. The resignation of Gustavo Bolívar and his declaration of love for Petro in that ill-fated cabinet meeting have a reason: who decides in the end who will be the candidate is the president. The polls, which we still don't know how serious they are, have raised Bolívar's support, although his results in the last elections for the mayor of Bogotá show a limit in Petro's endorsement of this character.

For their part, those in the opposition continue with the same anti-Petrista story, with a predictable discourse that no longer moves anyone and does not change a vote. Petro has 30 percent of the vote, half of which is hard votes, and there is not a single candidate or aspirant or opposition leader who inspires any feeling of hope or who attracts a part of that soft Petro vote. They continue to dedicate themselves to the predictable discourse against Petro, against corruption, against Benedetti, etc. Nobody is listening to them anymore.

Imagine a pretty girl, Colombia, with two suitors. One, Gustavo, tells her that they have tried to do well, that they have not been allowed to work, that they have made mistakes, but they have learned, and that, in addition, if they get together they will eat out every day, they will be safe and they will be a happy couple. The other, Alfonso, tells her that he is short of money, that they will only eat at home once a day, that they will not be able to go out because of the insecurity and that suddenly they will be able to spend some time together. Colombia runs to Gustavo with open arms. That's how we are.

The country is divided. 30 percent are with Petro, with a redeemable part, 30 percent against Petro and 40 percent undecided. Petro and his candidate are going for that 40 percent, while the rest of the country continues with that little speech against Petro, which is useless. How can we get all of them, including the businessmen, to see a little common sense? The electoral path is already defined, and Petro is far ahead of us.

Are you worried about this scenario? There is another critical element to take into account in this equation: the nation's attorney general, Luz Adriana Camargo. This official, who is a consummate Petro supporter, and does not hide it, has the greatest power of intimidation of any official in Colombia, that of ordering the imprisonment of any citizen. Can you imagine her aligned with Petro's electoral interests, 'sensitizing' congressmen, mayors and governors? This, however, is for another column.

For now, let's wake up, because the way things are going, they're going badly. Very badly. And Petro, without a doubt, is appointing a president in 2026. Is that what we want for our children, our grandchildren and for Colombia? I'll leave you with that concern.

«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».