Followers of Rodolfo Hernández react to the defeat at the polls of their candidate, in Bucaramanga, on Sunday, June 19. CHELO CAMACHO
Rodolfo
fans
do exist and most of them are in Santander, the land of Rodolfo Hernández.
74% of the inhabitants of this region, in northeastern Colombia, voted for the former mayor of Bucaramanga and hoped that for the second time in its history a countryman would be the head of state.
But his votes were not enough and the millionaire engineer, known in this area of the country for his HG construction company, was unable to make the dream of the thousands who supported him at the polls come true.
His followers already sensed it.
Perhaps for this reason, unlike last May 29, when the candidate and leader of the League of Anti-Corruption Rulers movement surprisingly went to the second round and the streets of Bucaramanga were full of
rodolfistas
even before knowing the result, this time they looked resigned very early.
Carlos Bonilla came to wait for the electoral results in front of Hernández's headquarters with a bit of hope, but after the fourth bulletin from the Registrar's Office, which was broadcast on a giant screen installed in the street, he accepted defeat.
"The dream of having a president from Santander was gone," he said with a group of women who, although they already knew that their candidate had lost, danced to the rhythm of 'La guaracha del engineer', a campaign song.
Bonilla wanted Hernández, 77, to be president because he believes that Santander has been forgotten by all governments and thought that with one from his region perhaps the look would be here, an area that is not talked about as much as it deserves in the national debate.
“We are a land of workers, of
berraca
people , we just need a little push
to be more and with a businessman, such as the engineer Rodolfo, we had that opportunity”, he explained calmly.
His vote was not against Gustavo Petro.
“I hope he has a good Administration, if the majority elected him it is because he deserves it”, he accepted in a soft tone, without frights, nothing like the one that is usually attributed to Santandereans.
A follower of Rodolfo Hernández waits for the electoral results in Bucaramanga, on June 19, 2022.CHELO CAMACHO
Sunday's session was also a sign that the violence in the forms of candidate Hernández, which during the campaign was justified as a reflection of the culture of this region of the country, does not correspond to reality.
The bumangueses accepted without violence and without much noise the defeat of their candidate.
Public order was maintained, the presence of the police was scarce because it was not necessary and even the
Petristas
, gathered at the headquarters of the left-wing leader, were able to celebrate in peace.
Marcela Herrera, 26, was one of the young women disappointed with the overall result, but proud that her region voted for her candidate.
“I will not deny that it is sad, but we are peaceful.
Nothing unusual is going to happen here with this result, ”she said in the midst of a group of friends, who after knowing the name of the winner planned to go for some hamburgers and meet at the house of one of them.
Hernández lost the presidency of Colombia, but he established himself as the new electoral boss of Santander with a historic vote.
He won in almost the entire department: in 85 of the 87 municipalities in the entire territory.
Despite the moles of his administration when he was mayor of Bucaramanga - a corruption case that has him on the verge of trial, his insults to subordinates or the famous slap on the face of a councilman - Rodolfo Hernández is a character appreciated by the majority of Santandereans.
Never before, as reported by the local newspaper Vanguardia, has a candidate for the presidency never had as many votes here as he did this Sunday.
Jairo Correa, who supported Hernández's campaign seeking the young vote in Bucaramanga, was one of those who preferred to stay at home and see the results from there.
The last few weeks had not been very good for the engineer and his followers were aware of it.
The leaking of a video in which the candidate was seen dancing among young women on a yacht in Miami and his refusal to participate in any debate with Petro lowered the spirits of the
rodolfistas
, although some, like Correa, say today that it was a dirty campaign
”Tenacious that the dirty campaign finally ended with one like that of the engineer, who really connected with the majority.
At the point of gossip and malicious comments, they made people prefer to vote for a person who showed that he has nothing to do with ethics,” says Correa, who does not feel like a loser.
“There is finally a winner here apart from the total result.
Rodolfo Hernández, with more than 10,500,000 votes, really ran a historic and successful campaign.
Obtaining that vote and having passed to the second round is not a minor achievement, ”he says this Monday in Bucaramanga, from where he assures that he will oppose.
"The difference in votes was very small and, for the same reason, a large part of that vote declared ourselves in absolute opposition," says the 29-year-old professor.
This time Santander was left without a president, but with a politically active citizenry that managed to bring an unknown person, such as Rodolfo Hernández, to the national debate.
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