Colombia clears mysteries

The elections this Sunday in Colombia have cleared the way for the presidential elections that will hold their first round on May 29.

The playing field is now clearer and has a predominant figure, Gustavo Petro, who swept his coalition's primaries with a massive vote and achieved the largest bench obtained by the left in history in Congress.

Petro's impulse is accompanied by the collapse of the center, a strengthening of the more moderate right and an electoral horizon marked once again by polarization.

In his second attempt to reach the presidency, Petro has managed to get four million people to vote in the primaries of a coalition where he had no rivals.

Even so, the consultation of the Historical Pact, its leftist alliance, was the one that registered the most participation, in part also due to the presence of the environmentalist leader Francia Márquez, the only woman with a strong presence in these primaries.

The internal struggles inside Centro Esperanza diluted its potential almost from the beginning.

Sergio Fajardo won with a meager result: his votes, those of Juan Manuel Galán, second, and former minister Alejandro Gaviria add up to less than half of those obtained by Petro.

The only possible alternative to the left has been severely hit and if it does not regroup in the coming weeks, something that seems chimerical in view of past tensions,

On the opposite side to Petro, Federico Gutiérrez emerged strongly.

The former mayor of Medellín won a resounding victory in the right-wing coalition, which gives him the credentials to rally a large platform around him.

The unknown now is to see how much support he will receive from Uribismo, which collapsed in Congress after the departure of the former president from the lists.

The resignation of Óscar Iván Zuluaga, the candidate of Álvaro Uribe's party, the Democratic Center, was a first sign this Monday.

Power has shifted to the Conservative Party, one of the strongest machines in the country along with the Liberal Party, which has winked at Petro.

The two historical formations will be key players with a view to the first round.

Until then, a scenario marked by the omnipresent figure of Petro and a front against him can be glimpsed.

The polarization returns, if it ever left, and the similarities with the election four years ago are stronger today than before Sunday's meeting.

Petro did not have the strength then that he now has in Congress, nor is the fear of his possible victory so great.

Polarization could once again be the cancer of Colombian political life.

With it, the space for debate dissolves and, far from closing the wounds among Colombians, it can cause them to persist and even deepen.