Bogota, Colombia – Iván Cepeda and Abelardo de la Espriella, the leading candidates for Colombia’s next president, announced their vice-presidential candidacy following Sunday’s legislative and presidential primaries.
Cepeda chose senator and indigenous leader Aida Quilcué on Sunday to join the left-wing Pacto Historico ticket, which won the most parliamentary seats. Meanwhile, hard-line outsider de la Espriella announced today that he will run alongside former finance minister Jose Manuel Restrepo.
But Paloma Valencia, whose right-wing Democratic Center Party scored the biggest win in Sunday’s primary, has yet to announce a running mate amid growing speculation.
Cepeda sticks to his guns.
On Monday, Cepeda officially announced Aida Quilcué as his running mate. Quilcué, the leader of the Nasa indigenous group, has a record as a staunch human rights defender and defender of Colombia’s minority groups.
She played a key role in negotiating the ethnic chapter of the 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and has been a key figure in Colombia’s indigenous rights movement.
Last month, Quilcué made national headlines when she was kidnapped by FARC dissidents from her native Cauca state, located on Colombia’s Pacific coast.
Colombian political strategist Miguel Jaramillo Luján described Cepeda’s choice of Quilcué as a “symbolic” choice that solidifies his position as a defender of peace and human rights.
But the analyst also pointed out that this choice may not be the smartest move politically. “From an electoral point of view, I think this is a concentric circle, and I think it does not add electoral power to Iván Cepeda, who acts symbolically but is overly proud of this decision,” Jaramillo said. Latin America Report.
De la Espriella’s Founding Choice
Criminal defense lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella described himself as an anti-establishment political outsider. His traditional values, tough-on-crime campaign has been successful so far, regularly placing him in second place in presidential polls.
Today, ‘The Tiger’, as he styles himself, announced his running mate: Jose Manuel Restrepo.
Restrepo is an economist at the University of Rosario in Bogota and served as President Ivan Duque’s Minister of Finance and Public Credit from May 2021 to August 2022, managing the country’s finances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, he served as Minister of Commerce and Industry since 2018.
“I think the selection of José Manuel Restrepo… represents an attempt to balance de la Espriella, who has no experience in public office,” Jaramillo said.
Although de la Espriella is an outsider, he will have to deal with Cepeda and Valencia, incumbent senators since 2014. Restrepo adds proven governance credentials to shine a criminal defense lawyer’s bid.
De la Espriella said this when announcing his running mate on Tuesday. “My choice of vice president was not driven by political calculations. It was clear to me that a renowned academic, a distinguished economist, a highly qualified former minister and engineer would undoubtedly make the best travel companion.”
Paloma Valencia in the spotlight
On Sunday, Paloma Valencia won more than 45% of the vote in the presidential primary, but Cepeda and de la Espriella were both absent from the contest.
According to experts, Valencia’s victory strengthened her position in the presidential election, with the centrist Democratic Party winning the second-most seats in legislative elections.
“It is clear (in the primary) that Paloma Valencia is the leading candidate on the right,” said Sergio Guzmán, director of political risk consulting firm Colombia Risk Analysis. Latin America Report.
Before Sunday’s vote, de la Espriella was dominating conservative polls. It is now unclear which conservative candidate will attract the most voters in May’s election.
Whoever wins will have to face Cepeda and will be under pressure to beat the centrist Colombians, Guzmán said.
One way to achieve this is to choose a running mate with broader appeal.
Sunday’s primary highlighted the widespread popularity of Juan Daniel Oviedo, who was on the same list as Valencia and won 17% of the total vote. Oviedo, a former director of the National Statistical Office (DANE), is considered center-right and particularly more moderate than Valencia.
According to Jaramillo, Valencia are under public pressure to choose Oviedo as their running mate, but the pair differ on key issues and Oviedo has set strict conditions for joining the Valencia ticket.
“We show our fundamental differences publicly. For example, we believe in peace,” Oviedo said in an interview with Colombian radio station Caracol on Monday. “We cannot take a position that does not recognize that the (2016) peace agreement must be implemented and that it takes more than bullets to eliminate criminals,” he added.
Valencia has campaigned for law and order, promising a ‘mano dura’ or ‘iron fist’ against crime and armed groups in Colombia. Her politics follow those of former President Alvaro Uribe, the party’s founder who waged war against FARC rebels from 2002 to 2010.
Today Valencia told Caracol that they will not compromise on this. “I am Uri Vista and I have my own values and principles. He (Oviedo) will not change and I will not change.”
But Valencia said he intends to run alongside Oviedo and the two plan to meet today to discuss a joint ticket. She is also considering four other running mates, according to the Columbian newspaper. hourHer decision is due Friday.
Jaramillo insists Valencia’s best option is not to choose Oviedo. That’s because Oviedo is legally obliged to support her because they ran on the same list in the primaries.
He believes she should distance herself from Uribe. They argue that the Uribistas are more likely to support de la Espriella and believe they should seek moderate votes by choosing a centre-left candidate instead.
But Guzmán says that’s unlikely. “She seems to be going in a different direction.”
Featured image description: From left to right: Iván Cepeda, Paloma Valencia, Abelardo de la Espriella.
Featured image credit: @PactoCol via X / @PalomaValenciaL via X / @ABDELAESPRIELLA via X
