In Colombia, Cepeda ends campaign and calls on the population to vote

“The homeland is our concept, not that of its traitors. In the first round we defeated at the polls the traditional leader of the Colombian right and extreme right, Álvaro Uribe, who was also defeated in the courts of Justice. Now, political marketing brings us a new product: an obscure lawyer for drug traffickers, paramilitaries and fraudsters, who claims to be a defender of the homeland, but kneels to foreign interests and intervention.”

In an emphatic manner and to the cheers of “Cepeda president!”, the candidate of the Historic Pact was greeted in Santa Maria Square, on Saturday (13), at the closing rally of the progressive campaign in Bogotá, alongside leaders from Congress and social movements.

In this emblematic place, formerly known as Praça dos Touros, he stated, “we will end our period of great mobilizations, proud to have brought together more than one million and three hundred thousand people in public events”.

Valuing the strategic partnership of the great indigenous leader of Aida Quilcué, candidate for vice president, the humanist leader recalled that not only did we obtain a large vote in the first round, but “we chose the largest parliamentary group in the country”. ‘We are an uncontrolled force, made up of the best of the people. So with us, everything. And without us, nothing”, smiled Cepeda, to applause.

“Defeating the extreme right and its death project”

In a World Cup atmosphere, greeted by a sea of ​​Colombian flags, banners and horns, the candidate urged that in the second round, next Sunday (21), everyone dedicate themselves to the maximum, as “the vote is essential to continue the great transformations and defeat the extreme right and its death project”.

Cepeda recalled that Abelardo de la Espriella took his family and “went to live abroad to identify with other external powers”. “He doesn’t like to be identified with the popular and he doesn’t want to end poverty, but to end the poor”, he summarized. The ultra-rightist, he pointed out, aims to “end the social achievements obtained in these years, with the freedoms, and persecute the opposition. He wants us to return to the time when the internal enemy was the Colombian people.”

‘We will not allow it under any circumstances. It wants to end nature, fracking (a technique for extracting oil and natural gas from deep rocks), swamps, water sources and natural wealth. Our project is exactly the opposite and we are in a place that symbolizes it. In this square, torture and the spectacle of death with animals were practiced, until our government of human Bogotá arrived”, he recalled.

“Petro benefited excluded and forgotten communities”

“Fellow president Gustavo Petro Burrego led the first social government that our country had, which reversed priorities to benefit historically excluded and forgotten communities, not for the elite sectors that have wealth and power. It was the first government that carried out a true agrarian reform, which handed over hundreds of thousands of hectares to peasants and which recognized rural workers as subjects of rights”, highlighted Cepeda.

Engaged with redoubled force, bilingual interpreter Veronica Polania believes that “it is time to redouble the effort in order to make clear the meaning of Cepeda’s proposals to help the country and its government plan”. “Now we believe that we ran an excellent campaign and that we fought not only for our environment, but for our rights,” he said.

Professor and sociologist Luis Alfonso considered that “one of the most important points is that there has been a change in people, who have started to speak and go out, this being the determining factor. This is transformation.” “The main enemy to be overcome is ignorance, while we believed it was corruption. But corruption is a derivative of ignorance and this we are seeing with the degree of polarization in the country. With Petro we reached polarity and with Cepeda we will come to power”, he stressed.

Arts student, Ana Maria Pirilla reiterated the importance of participating next Sunday, “because our vote for Cepeda needs to be made with love, defending the paramos and ecosystems and defeating the hatred behind that carried by De la Espriella”.

His sister, geographer Lina Maria, a biology student, is of the same opinion, “there is no logic that puts the interests of large companies above the destruction of nature and ecosystems over those of such a vast country”. The ultra-right, he pointed out, “wants to privatize everything, transform our jungles into sacrifice zones, commodifying people who are already vulnerable”. As if that weren’t enough, he accused, they want to cut State resources by 40%, “which is inconceivable as it would put an end to supervision and would have a very serious effect on public education and health”.

“De La Espriella used political marketing to buy votes and manipulate consciences”

In Soledade, a city in the department (State) of Colombia, Iván Cepeda concluded the campaign on Sunday (14), encouraged by tens of thousands of supporters.

“I trust in democratic and participatory institutions. I trust in the business community, in the security forces, in the judicial system that wants to build democracy. I trust in dialogue and in the possibility of a Historic Pact”, asserted Cepeda, highlighting that “nothing we achieved was for free”. “The democracy we have, with all its imperfections, is valuable,” he noted.

“I am deeply proud of the electoral campaign we carried out together. It was not about political marketing, buying votes and manipulating consciences, lies or using artificial intelligence to manufacture slander, as De la Espriella’s campaign is doing”, he warned.

Furthermore, said the progressive candidate, “we can prove the great appreciation for the Caribbean people due to their dedication to victory”. “I am deeply proud of the electoral campaign we carried out together. It is not about political marketing, wasting resources or using artificial intelligence to manufacture slander. I talk about the people, the murals, the advertising, the music and the artisanal videos”, thanked Cepeda.

This coverage by the ComunicaSul Collaborative Communication Agency was only possible thanks to the support of the São Paulo Bank Workers Union; Writers’ Union of the State of São Paulo; newspaper Hora do Povo; Red; Global South Dialogues; Citizenship Mail; Baron of Itararé; councilor Werner Tempel (PCdoB) of Santa Maria-RS; Professor Azuaite, from São Carlos-SP; Angelim Institute, the Public Services International (ISP) and the Colombian Workers’ Unitary Center, as well as several anonymous contributors.