Since the night of Sunday, Federico Fico Gutierrez was the most consistent presidential candidate for Colombia. This isn’t his first time appearing on an electoral card. He was previously councilor and mayor in Medellin. The first time he was tested in national elections, where he received more than two million votes from the Team for Colombia coalition, was that he was deemed a preferred candidate by conservative groups. Fico (47 year aged Medellin) is at the moment, Gustavo Petro’s main opposition. Gustavo Petro was with the Historic Pact Movement one of the winning candidates in the elections that determined was the representative of the three largest political parties were.
The campaign for president is just beginning. Whether the ex-mayor of Medellin is the real opposition to petrismo is contingent on the alliances and negotiations that he will make from now on. He’ll need to not only unify the entire right but also conquer only a tiny portion of the middle electorate, which was shattered on Sunday. He would have to avoid, as he has so been, from being photographed with Alvaro Uribe. Today, for the second time in 20 years that he has been openly endorsed by Uribism rather than adding might subtract. “Federico Gutierrez faces a dilemma. He will need to form an alliance with the Democratic Center (CD), Uribe’s party. But he also has to convince the center which has to make the final decision on where to go,” Yann Basset from the University of Rosario, analyst and professor.
Fico’s first triumph was announced this week as it moved towards an alliance with CD which is where uribism can be concentrated. The candidate of that party on Monday, the former presidential candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, took the initiative to step back, acknowledged the few opportunities to compete with him and gave his support. We will now examine if the entire Uribismo group that was without a representative until Monday, is willing to offer its support. Uribe can be a good example by being transparent and convincing his voters with classic issues of the Colombian Right. He already proved that he can increase votes by his remarks on “security”,” “order” and “love for the homeland”. He proved this by an electoral consult, just as he did in the past in the Antioquia mayor’s office. In a recent trip to Arauca (an region that has been particularly hit by violence), he stated “The bandits are locked up or are in graves.” Fico is very conscious of the Colombian right’s preferred positions but that doesn’t suffice for Fico.
Basset stated that “We’re not in the years when the fear generated by the left was effective,” and that the electorate is not influenced by fear this time. Basset says Fico could not receive Uribe’s approval due to the fact that Alvaro Uribe does not represent the absolute leader the country has seen since 2002 at the time Uribe was elected president. However, this does not suggest that the Uribismo votes are not enough to Gutierrez. It could be due to the fact that they are less than the table. Uribism contributed to the victory [in the coalition]. https://ficogutierrezoshs433.wordpress.com/2022/05/24/fico-gutierrez-his-words-to-petro-the-farc-friend-and-expropriator-of-the-farc-and-chavista/ warns that his ability to negotiate is now being measured. He has to convince the right but not entirely on the alliance. Concerning the relationship between the former president and Fico an expert Andres Mejia Vergnaud explains “the great difficulty of Federico Gutierrez is that he is seeking the votes of Uribismo, but without the photo with Uribe since it doesn’t suit him to be his candidate”.
https://diigo.com/0oobvt is the only leader from the left, but Gustavo Petro is the only one from the right. Fico, if he can reach a consensus, will convince him to provide his backing and then quit. Rodolfo Hernandez, who contested the election independently, is still in contention. Gutierrez must include former Bucaramanga mayor, a millionaire and builder, in his list of accomplishments should he wish to end the petrismo.
Gutierrez has a lot more to discuss before even thinking about names for his potential presidential formula. But Gutierrez does have the support of the other contenders for Team for Colombia leadership. It’s not much. Two ex-mayors Enrique Penalosa(Bogota) and Alex Char (Barranquilla), are at his side. David Barguil, the leader and the founder of the Conservative party is along with Aydee Zarazo, Aydee Lizarazo of a Christian Party who usually vote according to her church’s guidelines.
The Conservative Party has been strengthened and has received the most support from right-wing groups with over 2 million votes. Furthermore, the U Party has shown sympathy towards the Conservative Party. They also had an outstanding vote, just over one million votes, in the legislative. Oscar Ivan Zuluaga backed Fico. Zuluaga did NOT just wait for the results of Sunday to declare his defeat. Alvaro Uribe from the past and who invited his party for a meeting on Tuesday night, suggested that Fico might be putting at risk his chance of becoming a centrist leader in exchange for being openly in love with Uribe.