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Der frühere Guerillakämpfer Gustavo Petro hat die erste Runde der Präsidentenwahl in Kolumbien klar gewonnen. Der frühere Bürgermeister der Hauptstadt Bogotá kam auf 40,3 Prozent der Stimmen, wie die Wahlbehörde nach der vorläufigen Auszählung fast aller Wahllokale mitteilte. Der parteilose Unternehmer Rodolfo Hernández kam demnach auf 28,1 Prozent. Die beiden stärksten Bewerber treffen am 19. Juni in der Stichwahl aufeinander.
Setzt sich Petro auch in der zweiten Runde durch, würde erstmals in der jüngeren Geschichte des südamerikanischen Landes ein Linker in den Regierungspalast Casa de Nariño in Bogotá einziehen. Kolumbien ist traditionell konservativ geprägt. Zwar ist die soziale Ungleichheit enorm, bisher war linke Politik durch die Gewalt der Guerillagruppen im jahrzehntelangen Bürgerkrieg allerdings stets diskreditiert.
Der millionenschwere Bauunternehmer Hernández war Bürgermeister der Großstadt Bucaramanga, verfügt aber über wenig Beziehungen im politischen Bogotá. Der Populist verspricht im Falle eines Wahlsiegs eine schlanke Regierung und einen entschlossenen Kampf gegen die Korruption. Der derzeitige konservative Staatschef Iván Duque durfte nicht mehr antreten, weil die Verfassung eine Wiederwahl nicht vorsieht.
Kolumbien litt über Jahrzehnte unter einem blutigen Bürgerkrieg zwischen linken Rebellen, rechten Paramilitärs und staatlichen Sicherheitskräften. 220.000 Menschen kamen ums Leben, Millionen wurden vertrieben. 2016 schloss die Regierung einen Friedensvertrag mit der linken Farc-Guerilla, die Hoffnung auf einen Aufschwung war groß. Doch die Gewalt ist vor allem in ländlichen Gebieten zurück. 300.000 Polizisten und Soldaten waren am Sonntag im Einsatz, um Wähler, Wahlhelfer und Kandidaten zu schützen.
Colombia: Ex-guerrillero wins first round of elections
Former guerrilla Gustavo Petro has clearly won the first round of the presidential election in Colombia. The former mayor of the capital Bogotá received 40.3 percent of the vote, the electoral authority announced after the preliminary count of almost all polling stations. Rodolfo Hernández, an entrepreneur with no party affiliation, received 28.1 percent. The two strongest candidates will meet in a runoff election on June 19.
Rodolfo Hernández Suárez (Piedecuesta, March 26, 1945) is a Colombian civil engineer, businessman and politician leader of the political movement Liga de Gobernantes Anticorrupción. He was mayor of Bucaramanga from 2016 until his resignation in 2019.1 In June 2021 he registered his candidacy for the Presidency of Colombia for the May 2022 elections.2
He is owner of the company Constructora HG. He claims to have a fortune of US$100 million.3
Biography
He was born on March 26, 1945 in Piedecuesta, Santander, 14 km southeast of Bucaramanga,4 but since his childhood he settled in Bucaramanga where he began his career as a politician. His father, Luis Jesús Hernández Rojas, his mother, Cecilia Suárez de Hernández, of peasant origins, Rodolfo has three brothers: Humberto, Alfonso and Gabriel, the last two also civil engineers. Rodolfo is married to Socorro Oliveros.5 His father was kidnapped for 135 days by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP).6 He has 4 children: Mauricio, Juliana, Luis Carlos and Rodolfo José, his daughter was kidnapped and allegedly killed by the National Liberation Army (ELN) or another criminal organization in 2004.7
She did her primary schooling in Piedecuesta at the school attached to the Normal Superior de Varones; while she did her high schooling in Bucaramanga at the Colegio de Santander. He graduated alongside students who are currently important businessmen, politicians and professionals.5 He studied Civil Engineering at the National University of Colombia in 1970. In 1971 he developed works as a civil engineer in local housing projects.
Career in the private sector
In 1972 he founded his construction company called HG Constructora, based on housing construction. In the years prior to his political activity, his capital increased by negotiating expansion territories in Barranquilla and Villavicencio. Finally, he would become interested in regional projects aimed at promoting urban development in certain national areas, specifically in Bucaramanga.
Political trajectory
His first foray into politics was achieving the position of Councilman of Piedecuesta-Santander. In 2011 he would finance the campaign of Luis Francisco Bohórquez liberal politician who would eventually win the Mayor of Bucaramanga, and was deprived of his freedom in 2017. In 2012 while he was part of the board of directors of Entorno Verde, he himself would ask to remove the obstacles placed against a landfill controlled by the aforementioned company, additionally, his sister-in-law Martha Lucía Oliveros, held the position of Secretary of Social Development of the Mayor’s Office of Bucaramanga in 2014.8
However, relations between Luis Francisco Bohórquez and Rodolfo Hernández were slowed down by Bohórquez’s lack of interest in the ideas he wanted to develop in the city. He ended up, in the end, preparing his candidacy for mayor in the 2015 elections.
Mayor of Bucaramanga
In 2015 he financed his own campaign and won the Mayor’s Office of Bucaramanga. Since January 1, 2016, as Mayor Hernandez has led the «Logic, Ethics and Aesthetics» movement, which is also the motto of his government. On different occasions he has met with community leaders and young people.
Suspensions
The Procuraduría General de la Nación opened an investigation and suspended him from office for three months, following the aggression against the councilman of that city, Jhon Claro, on November 28, 2018.9
A second provisional suspension he faced was an opening of a disciplinary investigation, according to the Santander Regional Attorney General’s Office. The bumanguesan mandatary would have to be out of office for another three months. This time, he was investigated for alleged participation in politics while mayor, on September 16, 2019.10 On September 17, he subsequently resigned.11
Candidate for the Presidency of Colombia
Announced that he would be a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic for the period 2022-2026,12 pretending to obtain funding from small donations, but later reported that he would finance his campaign with his own assets,13 to recover the money through state replenishment to votes.
Described as a right-wing populist and compared to Donald Trump, he campaigns against the corruption of the traditional political class and emphasizes his image as a successful businessman who can transform Colombia. During the campaign, he accused his opponents of being «scoundrels», «muggers», «thieves», and even drug addicts on several occasions. He routinely speaks in a very colloquial and sometimes rude manner.14
If Petro also prevails in the second round, a leftist would enter the government palace Casa de Nariño in Bogotá for the first time in the recent history of the South American country. Colombia is traditionally conservative. Although social inequality is enormous, left-wing politics have always been discredited by the violence of guerrilla groups in the decades-long civil war.
Hernández, a millionaire building contractor, was mayor of the major city of Bucaramanga, but has few connections in political Bogotá. The populist promises a lean government and a determined fight against corruption if he wins the election. The current conservative head of state, Iván Duque, was not allowed to run again because the constitution does not provide for re-election.
Colombia suffered for decades from a bloody civil war between left-wing rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and state security forces. 220,000 people died and millions were displaced. In 2016, the government reached a peace deal with the leftist Farc guerrillas, and hopes were high for a recovery. But violence is back, especially in rural areas. 300,000 police and soldiers were deployed Sunday to protect voters, election workers and candidates.
