In a context of threats against the candidates and the risk of violence in the country’s 375 municipalities, Colombia is preparing to elect its president on Sunday. At the microphone of our associated media Radio France International, the Colombian Electoral Observation Mission also regrets the speeches that question the transparency of the elections.
The Colombian electoral campaign was marked by threats against the main candidates. Petro had to strengthen his security scheme and now he speaks in public with a bulletproof vest and protected by a fence of armored shields.
On Saturday night, a green laser was pointed at Francia Márquez while he was giving a speech in Bogotá, activating his bodyguards and forcing the rally to be cancelled. The prosecution is investigating the incident.
Added to these threats are speeches that raise the specter of electoral fraud, with the great risk that the loser will have arguments not to accept the results and the country will plunge into a serious crisis.
In the street, these speeches permeate and the tension is palpable as the appointment with the polls on Sunday approaches.
“The spirits on both sides are so hot that there may be demonstrations or attacks before the elections. People are so passionate about their candidate that we are afraid something will happen,” Eugenia, a VTC taxi driver in Medellín, told RFI.
Given the risks that this electoral scenario entails, some voices point to the lack of institutional responsibility and neutrality that the government of Ivan Duke.
“The president has recklessly come out against Gustavo Petro. The president shouldn’t be doing this. Neutrality has been a tradition in our midst when it is known that the president is suddenly going to be succeeded by someone from another political current due to attrition or the punishment vote”, observes Juan Carlos López, Professor of History at the Medellín School of Administration. .
Questioning of the electoral software by both parties, and voices of crossed accusations speaking of coups or electoral fraud have contributed to this climate that has not been tempered from the highest levels of the State.
The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), an independent institution that ensures the transparency of the process, has criticized the lack of neutrality of the government of Iván Duque but also that the leftist favorite Gustavo Petro launched without evidence that the elections were going to be suspended.
“From the MOE we don’t have any facts, or anything that would imply that the elections could have been suspended,” says Mauricio Vela, coordinator of the MOE’s political observatory.
“There is nothing in the legal framework that prevents the elections from being held. It is a comment that has no validity. The elections are taking place. There is no possibility that they will be cancelled”, insists the coordinator.
Mistrust in the electoral process
That the favorite launches that accusation “can generate even more mistrust in the electoral institution and in the entire electoral process. Even if he finally wins, that same argument can be used by opponents to say that the process was not transparent,” Vela also estimates.
Looking ahead to election day, the institution monitors up to 375 municipalities in the country where the conditions for going to vote are not adequate due to some type of risk.
“We have identified 375 municipalities, plus minus a third of the country with some level of risk due to violence. They are municipalities where there is a strong presence of armed groups, where there are possibilities of armed action, where there is a violation of freedom of the press and there may be acts of displacement. All these facts can affect electoral participation”, warns Mauricio Vela.
A reality of tension of which the press is also a victim. So far this year in Colombia, 97 journalists have received death threats; 59% more compared to the 2018 electoral period.
Reporting on the new dynamics of violence in the country or on the presidential elections can pose a risk. At the beginning of May, up to 15 media outlets from different cities in the departments of Córdoba, Sucre and Antioquia announced their withdrawal from the air.
The reason: death threats from members of the Gulf Clan during the armed strike decreed by that organization.