Rodolfo Hernández confirms that he will not attend debates with Gustavo Petro before the second round in Colombia

The independent populist candidate Rodolfo Hernandez assured this Wednesday that he will not participate in any debate before the second round of the presidential elections in Colombiawhich will be held on June 19 and in which he faces the leftist Gustavo Petro.

“On the morning of this Wednesday, June 1, after a meeting with his campaign strategist, Ángel Beccassino, and his team, the presidential candidate Rodolfo Hernandez made the decision not to attend the debates that are organized for the second round”, expressed his campaign in a brief statement.

LOOK: Colombia is preparing for the second round between Petro and Hernández: Which candidate is better outlined?

Hernandezwho also did not attend any of the three debates held in the last week of the first round campaign, will present to the country his “proposal for change” and his “call for unity” through “interviews with the different media and live broadcasts made on their social networks”.

According to his campaign team, this was how he addressed people when he was mayor of Bucaramangacapital of the department of Santander (east), between 2016 and 2019.

LOOK: Colombia: What are the proposals of Petro and Hernández, the candidates for “change” who passed the second round?

Precisely Hernández assured at the beginning of the week in an interview with the Blu Radio station that he did not want to attend debates in which he only had “a minute” to respond.because he considers that interviews in which “face to face” can “make a statement, where everyone understands” are better.

However, he had clarified that the final decision would be made together with Beccassino at Wednesday’s meeting.

On the other hand, the first electoral polls after the celebration of the first round of the presidential elections in Colombia Last Sunday they gave a very tight result with both candidates almost tied in voting intention.

For the first time, two surveys published between yesterday and today do not put Petroleader of the left-wing coalition Historical Pact, as the favorite to win the elections despite the fact that he won more than 8.5 million votes on Sunday and 40.32% of the votes, twelve points more than Hernández, who got 28.15% and 5.9 million votes.

But due to the margins of error in the two surveys, there is a technical tie between Petro and Hernández, from the League of Anticorruption Leaders.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.