Rodolfo Hernández cries during the hearing upon learning of his sentence, when he revealed that he has terminal cancer.
Gustavo Petro is held in high esteem, but even when he was already an adult, veteran politician, involved in Congress, recognized for being anti-Uribe at a time when Álvaro Uribe was loved by the average Colombian - Uribe had known how to capture the spirit of his time―, he did not harbor the deep conviction that he could become president of Colombia.
It was just a thought that sometimes crossed his mind and vanished like dust in the air.
He understood that this possibility existed when, without having much hope, he went to the second round in 2018 and faced Iván Duque, the candidate that Uribe had put there without knowing many merits or much political background.
Likewise, the conservative wave that opposed the peace process brought Duque to the presidency.
His mandate was very discreet and in 2022 the wind was blowing in favor of the left.
There was Petro, on the front line.
He only had one last step left, a campaign that seemed tailor-made for him.
Out of nowhere, however, an unexpected opponent emerged.
It started with 3% voting intention in the first round and a vice-presidential ticket that he resigned after five days, but little by little he escalated until he pulverized the candidate of the conservative currents and business conglomerates who had been mayor of Medellín,
Fico
. Gutierrez.
In his land, the city of Bucaramanga, Rodolfo Hernández, an older man dedicated to construction, was loved and respected.
When he stopped being mayor there he was close to 85% popularity, numbers that only figures like Nayib Bukele reach.
The rest of the country barely knew him, except for a couple of sensational news stories that he had starred in, such as a slap to an opposition councilor, a good-hearted singer-songwriter whose life was changed by receiving that blow.
The composer had to stop leaving the house because he was booed and scolded on the street and in restaurants.
On the other hand, Hernández's aggression was applauded: people interpreted it as confirmation that he was a normal citizen who fought against lifelong corrupt politicians.
The reality is that the singer-songwriter was a modest and idealistic artist who wanted to promote culture, and Hernández, who is now 78 years old, was a millionaire businessman who during his mayoralty did business and favored acquaintances.
In the time of alternative truths, facts are unimportant.
In that regional world, far from Bogotá, Hernández had built a myth.
They wanted him left and right.
Petro, in the first round campaign, saw him at first as a strange element, but since he does not lack political intuition, his spider sense was activated very soon.
“Rodolfo is the one to fear,” he told his advisors.
I considered Fico defeated beforehand.
The night Petro won the first round, in a hotel with history called Tequendama, his face was worried.
He could not celebrate his first victory in a presidential election.
He and his team went up to a room on one of the top floors and realized that they were facing a dangerous, unexpected rival, who entered through the same needle eye as Trump and Bukele, to give two examples.
At that time, and this is no exaggeration, Petro thought that he was not going to win the elections.
But Hernández went to Miami, alleging threats against him, and in the end, Petro beat him by very little, just 3% of the total vote.
After the elections, Hernández went on a safari to Africa, or at least that's what he said he was going to do.
It was the kind of quirky thing he did that made people smile, like consulting political decisions with his mother, who is now 99 years old.
Had an opposition leader been born who would supervise Petro in the way that Petro supervised Duque?
The doubt was immediately dispelled: no.
He resigned his position as senator, returned to Bucaramanga, he was not interested in Bogotá.
But it was not the end of his political ambitions, he wanted to be governor of that region and he prepared for it in view of the regional elections of 2023. His time, however, was over, the past caught up with him. full.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) revoked his candidacy after confirming that he was disqualified from competing, since the Attorney General's Office had disciplined him on three occasions, one of them for the attack on the singer, whose name is John Claro.
Go on record.
That was the first setback in his slow decline, which manifested itself with all its devastating power this Thursday.
The late, volcanic, unexpected political career has come to an end.
In a video call hearing, he was convicted of corruption for an old case involving waste treatment during his time as mayor.
There is something surprising in this plot: his son charged the concessionaire company one million dollars as mediation and the deal appears in a dated, stipulated contract signed by the parties.
That is, corruption in writing.
He said that he did not know about that transaction, but justice does not believe him.
Judges have never had it so easy.
His sentence could range, with the code in hand, between 4 and 12 years in prison.
Soon it will be known with certainty what pain he has.
The decision is of first instance and can be appealed.
Hernández broke down when he heard the resolution, he started to cry and revealed something that makes your hair stand on end: “I have terminal cancer.
I thought about everything, except ending up prosecuted for things that I didn't do.”
The news overshadowed his conviction; compassion in cases like this overrides the desire for revenge for a fairly clear case of taking advantage of public resources.
Hernández emerged from nowhere, shone and became a successful politician if he takes into account his popularity and the 10 million votes he received as a presidential candidate.
He was almost, very close to donning the presidential sash.
The fall now has been hard and coincides with his delicate state of health.
He is surely going through the worst moment of his life.
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