The last Colombian presidential debate puts polarization on the table

The last presidential debate Colombian He put on the table this Friday the proposals of the candidates to break the polarization that has marked the campaign that will culminate on Sunday with the elections in which the successor of Iván Duque will be elected.

The debate, organized by Noticias Caracol, was attended by Senator Gustavo Petro, from the leftist Historical Pact; the former mayor of Medellín Federico ‘Fico’ Gutiérrez, of the right-wing Team for Colombia, and the former governor of Antioquia Sergio Fajardo, of the Centro Esperanza Coalition.

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The independent populist candidate Rodolfo Hernández, former mayor of Bucaramanga and who has rebounded in the last week in the polls, decided not to attend any of the three debates that took place this week and those that were attended by his three main contenders.

Also participating in the contest are the right-wing Enrique Gómez, from the National Salvation Movement, and Senator John Milton Rodríguez, an evangelical preacher from the Colombia Justa Libres party.

CONSENSUS

Petro, former mayor of Bogotá and favorite in the polls, assured that the first responsibility to attack polarization is the speech of the president who is elected: “the speech cannot generate sectarianism or hatred.”

“(It is) building public policy based on the greatest possible consensus, including unity in a diversity that is Colombia,” Petro said.

Gutiérrez, meanwhile, pointed out that if he won, he would invite Fajardo, Petro and the other candidates to work to find “a route on how, respecting our differences, we are going to put Colombia first and not our interests or our impulses or from what that we want to do individually”.

Fajardo stated that at this moment “Colombia is angry, afraid, indignant, upset, there are profound social inequalities”, but he considers that “it will change”.

MINIMUM SALARY

When asked about a possible increase in the minimum wage to alleviate the cost of living, triggered by inflation, Fajardo said that he would not do it and that what he believes should be done is “increase the subsidies for vulnerable people in such a way that are protected against inflation.

For his part, Gutiérrez stated that although the minimum wage increased, the price of the family basket also grew “between 25 and 30%”, for which he invited businessmen to “deliver a bonus of economic gratitude to their employees for compensate for the social crisis”.

Petro, meanwhile, affirmed that “the best bonus that should be given to workers is to repeal the labor reform” and “guarantee stability”, instead of giving gifts.

The polls place Petro as the favorite with 40.6% of the voting intention, followed by Gutiérrez (27.1%), and the engineer Hernández (20.9%).

Source: Elcomercio

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