Five things about a Colombia in a presidential campaign

Senator and former guerrilla Gustavo Petro could become the first leftist president in Colombia in the midst of a hectic election that the polls foresee two rounds with a first round on Sunday.

Next, five stuff you should know about this South American country.

Look: Colombia Elections Survey 2022: Big surprise in the last CNC poll for Semana

Violence

Colombia It still suffers the aftermath of a prolonged conflict that for six decades pitted the state against the FARC rebels, the guerrilla group that demobilized with the 2016 peace agreement.

The state Single Registry of Victims estimates that the violence left more than nine million victims, most of them displaced, and of that figure at least one million for homicides, threats, sexual crimes, kidnapping and antipersonnel mines.

A conflict intensified by the drug cartels and far-right paramilitaries, which along with other guerrillas continue to be up in arms.

Handout image released by the Colombian Defense Ministry press office showing troops boarding a helicopter in Quibdó, Colombia, on November 19, 2014. (AFP/Mauricio Orjuela-MINDEFENSA/)

The peace agreement guaranteed alternative sentences to prison for FARC fighters who admit their guilt. The State also promised to improve basic services in rural areas in exchange for the dismantling of the guerrillas and their political participation, commitments that according to experts it did not fulfill.

Iván Duque, the current right-wing president and who by law cannot aspire to re-election, came to power in 2018 with the promise of modifying what was signed and with the support of a broad sector that opposed the agreement, considering it a door to impunity. .

The FARC dissidents, members of the still active National Liberation Army (ELN), the only recognized guerrilla group in the country, and criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining have more than 10,000 combatants, according to independent studies.

the convulsed campaign has also revived the specter of assassinations in a country where five presidential candidates were assassinated in the 20th century. The leftist candidate Gustavo Petro, his vice-presidential formula, the Afro environmentalist Francia Márquez; and the right-wing Federico Gutiérrez have denounced recent harassment and death threats.

largest producer of cocaine

The country of 50 million people remains the world’s largest producer of cocaine. In 2020, Colombia it had 143,000 hectares of coca leaf crops, according to the UN.

Since then, Duque has launched an anti-drug plan that aimed to halve illegal plantations by next year, a US-backed goal that the government has been unable to complete.

A Colombian police officer stands guard next to packets of cocaine being shown to the press in Turbo, Antioquia department, Colombia. (AFP PHOTO/Diana Sánchez/)

First Black Vice President?

Although 9.3% of the Colombian population identifies as Afro, black communities have traditionally been marginalized from politics. Márquez, the electoral phenomenon of the March primaries, obtained the third highest vote (more than 700,000 votes) behind Petro and the right-wing Federico Gutiérrez. The environmentalist now has the possibility of becoming the first black vice president in the country’s history as a key to Petro.

A mural painting shows the candidate for the vice presidency of Colombia for the coalition Historical Pact, Francia Márquez, in the department of Suárez, Colombia. (Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP /)

tensions with Venezuela

Colombia it shares 2,200 kilometers of border with Venezuela and is the main destination for Venezuelans fleeing the economic crisis in their country.

Both countries have maintained a tense relationship since Caracas broke diplomatic ties with Bogotá in 2019, after Duque recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president.

According to the right-wing president, Nicolás Maduro gives refuge to Colombian armed groups. Chavismo denies it.

Garcia Marquez and Shakira

The story of blood Colombia has given sinister characters such as the cocaine baron, Pablo Escobar, shot down in 1993.

On the cultural side, a crop of characters stands out, such as the Nobel Prize winner for Literature Gabriel García Márquez, creator of magical realism with his masterpiece “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, or the painter and sculptor Fernando Botero.

In addition, the country started the 21st century with a bonanza of world famous singers such as Shakira, J Balvin, Maluma or Karol G.

Source: Elcomercio