My friend Simone Bruno followed up his article on the Colombian elections (blogged about last time) with a roundup. Who he thinks won?
My friend Simone Bruno followed up his article on the Colombian elections (blogged about last time) with a roundup. Who he thinks won?
The Polo Democratico, whose winning of the mayor’s seat of Bogota gives them a good platform for the 2010 presidential elections. None of the other parties, including the Liberals and the Conservatives, have a credible candidate (other than Uribe himself). Part of this victory can be credited to the outgoing mayor, Lucho Garzon, another activist, who did a good job in Bogota and demonstrated that the left could make some good changes. The loser in this aspect of the election was Uribe, whose filthy campaigning against the Polo’s candidate (Samuel Moreno) failed. So too did the mainstream media, who also pitched in to the campaign to try to link Moreno with the guerrillas, etc.
It also looks, according to Bruno, like the whole machine of “Uribismo”, with “democratic security”, no negotiations with the guerrillas, and a sham peace process with the paramilitaries, won’t be able to survive without Uribe himself. The campaign against para-politicians, identifying their allegiances and histories, was a qualified success. Though some won in spite of it, many lost.
The blank vote was also a winner, with 18% in regional elections and 50% in municipals. If these folks vote in the presidential elections against Uribe, it could make a big difference in 2010.
