The former presidential candidate sent a video to his followers to explain his decision and the reservations he has with said campaign
The former minister and former rector is concerned about the stability of the institutions at the hands of Rodolfo Hernández.
Through a video that he uploaded to his social networks, the former candidate for the presidency of Colombia for the now dissolved Centro Esperanza Coalition ( center-right), Alejandro Gaviria, this Thursday cleared up any doubts about his support for one of the campaigns for the second presidential round, which will take place on June 19.
The former rector of the Universidad de Los Andes said that he met with “allies, friends and politicians whom I admire and with whom I have shared the defense of liberal ideas for several years, and I have listened to many supporters of the campaign team. ” to make his final decision.
Although he expressed that the outlook is difficult and that there are doubts and concerns, the former Minister of Health of Juan Manuel Santos assured that it is necessary to take a position on this point, and that “it is not time for neutrality”. He noted that he is motivated by pluralism, peace, social rights and environmental sustainability, causes that he will continue to defend “with independence and courage.”
Then, Gaviria announced that he will vote for the presidential candidate of the Historical Pact (left), Gustavo Petro, to defeat the candidate Rodolfo Hernández, who is concerned about his lack of proposals, his charlatanism and the possible rupture with the institutional structure that would occur with the engineer in the presidency.
“I believe that, with caveats and concerns on some issues, Gustavo Petro represents at this time the most responsible, institutional and liberal option for change. The risks of an institutional breakdown, especially with Congress, but also with the courts, are greater with Rodolfo Hernández,” Gaviria said.
Alejandro Gaviria finds a campaign like that of the former mayor of Bucaramanga questionable, who in his opinion “has appealed to an effective, but opportunistic, anti-corruption discourse.” He took advantage of the video to criticize what he calls anti-corruption demagoguery, which he finds inconvenient because it destroys trust in institutions and undermines the idea of democracy for exclusively electoral purposes.
On the other hand, he also criticized that “some of Rodolfo Hernández’s ideas are mere quackery” and that “he also has an idea of austerity that ignores the economic and budgetary reality, that is not based on a deep understanding of the economy.”
“Gustavo Petro, for the On the contrary, he is aware of the need for a fiscal adjustment, he has taken the problem of public finances seriously, his ideas on tax reform have to be specified and improved, of course, but they point to common sense”, he added.< /blockquote>
In any case, the former minister confessed that he is concerned about Gustavo Petro’s position on the management of the health system, since “a primary care strategy is not a replacement for the health system; our system must be strengthened, not finished”. He also says that he has objections to the proposals on the economy, but “I will continue to contribute ideas in this regard, helping to strengthen the change agenda that Colombia needs.”
Alejandro Gaviria continues to believe, as he did during his campaign before March 13, that an eventual government of Gustavo Petro would run the risk of being ineffective and not carrying out the reforms that Colombia needs. However, “I don’t see it as an institutional or democratic threat. I even believe that his figure of him, his ability to give voice to young people, who have the least to lose in our society, strengthens and legitimizes our democracy ”.
It should be remembered that Alejandro Gaviria’s inclination towards the Historical Pact is not new. This decision had been suspected since when, in an interview with the British newspaper Financial Times in mid-May, the former rector of the Universidad de Los Andes admitted that he would prefer a government led by Gustavo Petro to face the current crisis in Colombia.
“We are sleeping on top of a volcano. There is a lot of dissatisfaction. It might be better to have a controlled explosion with Petro than to bottle up the volcano. The country is demanding change,” he noted.
This statement caused many reactions because it was made in the middle of the campaign for the first round, taking into account that Gaviria participated in the consultations of the Hope Center Coalition and was obliged to accompany to Sergio Fajardo until May 29,
The most notorious reaction was that of senator Jorge Robledo, who, like Gaviria, competed in the internal consultation of the March 13 to receive the endorsement of Centro Esperanza to be the official presidential candidate of that bench. In a trill, Robledo left very harsh questions against Gaviria, classifying him as a “bad person” and questioning him for allegedly moving away from Fajardo’s political project.
“Confirmed: Alejandro Gaviria has always been a bad person. A bad person as Minister of Health, a bad person in the Hope Center Coalition and now he betrays Sergio Fajardo and Luis Gilberto Murillo,” Robledo asserted.