Colombia Chooses: The Far Left Revolutionary Opposes the Populist Engineer Israel today

Polling stations opened today (Sunday) and Colombian citizens will choose who will lead the country in the second round of presidential elections.

On one side is Senator Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla fighter and Marxist economist.

On the other side is Rodolfo Hernandez, a candidate for the "outsider" standard and an independent, who is perceived as a figure who deserves to shake up old politics.

The race could not be tighter. 

Some 50 million Colombians went to the polls knowing there would be a fundamental change after the results were confirmed which would determine who would be the country's 42nd president.

Preliminary approval for this will take place towards 17: 00-18: 00 in the evening (local time), early in the morning in Israel.

The campaign of the two candidates reflects the situation of the company: an extreme polarity that each of them took advantage of.

The revolutionary

Petro, 62, who has held a number of positions since leaving the M-19 guerrilla movement, including serving as governor of the Colombian capital, Bogota, is now running as the candidate for a left-wing coalition of 27 parties called the "Pacto Histórico."

In the first round he obtained the most votes (40 percent), the highest number ever for a candidate on the left side of the political map.

"I was filled with ancient energies," Petro said at a ceremony marking the end of the campaign on the Sierra Nevada ridge along with indigenous peoples in the north of the country.

Study in the Sierra Nevada with the moms.

Me llené de las energías ancestrales.

Me bautizaron as the President of the Corazón del Mundo.

It's my last act in this campaign.

pic.twitter.com/qCkonZ0QvO

- Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 19, 2022

In his administration plan as outlined in the 54 pages of his platform, Petro seeks to advance the status of women in the country, by “creating the Ministry of Equality,” an environmental protection policy centered on fighting global warming and the economic sphere will increase the state’s role in all walks of life.

Francia Marquez will run as his deputy - if elected - she will become the first black woman in a high position.

The engineer

Opposite him is the engineer Hernandez (77), the leader of the "League of Leaders Against Corruption", or in short "La Liga" with a back of 28 percent in the previous round.

The man who owns a local construction company and an estimated capital of millions of dollars is looking to cause a revolution after sweeping more and more people on the right side of the map with a blatant and direct style, without filters while massively using social networks.

"Let all the citizens decide if they want one more politician or a person like you who wants to put an end to corruption," he said early Sunday in a video at the end of the campaign alongside his mother.

Mañana voy a salir a votar con la tranquilidad que me da la bendición de mi mamá y elapoyo de todos ustedes 🙏🏻❤️🇨🇴 # RodolfoHernandez #RodolfoPresidente #LigaAnticorrupcion # elecciones2022 pic.twitter.com/v2mdPwxJI8

- Ing Rodolfo Hernandez 🇨🇴!

(@ingrodolfohdez) June 18, 2022

It represents the reaction against the phenomenon known as "petrophobia", meaning the fear of the extreme left that conservatives believe reflects Petro, his rival in combination with a populist-nationalist find.

Under this platform, Hernandez should not be seen as a typical conservative candidate, since he too believes in the central role of the state and is not necessarily a pro-Western like his counterparts in the camp.

Under this world order, the "engineer" seeks to restore to order diplomatic relations with neighboring Venezuela, a complex system that has degenerated into an almost military confrontation under former President Hugo Chavez and the constant tension with his successor, Nicholas Maduro.

However the two candidates promised to continue the peace process with the Marxist guerrilla FARC, a process that brought to an end more than 50 years of civil war and that since 2016 has lasted despite tensions between the parties.

The election of left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro will symbolize the return of the camp which defines itself as "progressive" to the continent after a series of victories in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and soon perhaps also in Brazil with a bitter battle between Jair Bolsonero and Incio "Lola" de Silva , This coming October.

Hernandez's victory will bring with it a new style, the question is how the divided Colombian society will react to it.

Jerusalem is watched with concern

Jerusalem is closely monitoring the results of the Colombian elections, given the possibility that a country with more than 50 million inhabitants will elect a president with a hostile orientation to Israel.

Petro is identified with the Bolivarian movement in South America, which traditionally has an anti-Western and pro-Palestinian line, and has recently managed to bring about political upheavals in Chile and Honduras.

Petro's victory in the second round in Colombia will testify to the establishment of a political trend on a continent that does not bode well for Israel. 

On the other hand, Hernandez is a mystery to political figures in Jerusalem: in the past he did not say much about Israel, but managed to create a storm when he said that "Hitler was a great thinker" - a statement that naturally raises doubts about him, although he was quick to apologize and try to clarify.

In Jerusalem it was initially estimated that Petro would win a clear victory, but now, after Hernandez's surprising achievement and after outgoing President Ivan Duka, who is considered friendly to Israel, called for him to vote in the second round, it is estimated that the race will be closer.

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