Rodolfo Hernández took the bait and bought the fight from his rival in the second round, Gustavo Petro. The engineer left behind the moderate tone he had had and began to launch frontal attacks on the former mayor of Bogotá, who in the last week had made various accusations of corruption in interviews and on his Twitter account to instigate him and thus achieve sparked debate between the two.
With the need to give blows of opinion, Petro dedicated himself to harassing him, so Hernández counterattacked him and thus the fight that will not take place in the debates, which the latter refused to attend, was transferred to Twitter.
What is particular regarding this quarrel between those who dispute the House of Nariño is that the candidate for the Historical Pact has had a convenient position with his rival, because before the first round he was cordial with him on several occasions, he did not see any defects in him and even He invited them to join, but when Hernández secured a place for the second round, everything changed and he became the new victim of Petro’s accusations.
From flirting to attacks
On December 3, 2021, Petro appeared on a stage with a hat and backpack in Bucaramanga and publicly invited Hernández to join. “I have nothing once morest him. I invite you to discuss proposals and accompany me to take the corrupt to jail,” Petro said.
Until then, the attitude of the former mayor of Bogotá was friendly, but now that Hernández is his obstacle to reaching the Presidency, his tone has changed. In the last few days, Petro accused him and his children of corrupt business and undertook a smear campaign trying to gain ground.
Faced with this cornering attempt, the candidate of the League of Anticorruption Rulers stopped claiming his rival for his alliances with Roy Barreras, Armando Benedetti and Piedad Córdoba, and this Tuesday he returned the ball. “Petro’s corruption in Bogotá was evident. They didn’t miss anything, even on the motorcycles they took their share. Tell me what he preaches and I will tell you what he sins in, ”he questioned.
After this counterattack, Petro defended himself by charging the former mayor of Bucaramanga, who has an indictment pending for alleged corruption. “No criminal investigation once morest me prospered; it is you who is in the hands of the judges charged with corruption charges, ”replied the Pact and added that any accused will be expelled from his campaign.
After learning the answer, Hernández reproached Petro for not expelling Benedetti, his right-hand man in the campaign, because he has an investigation pending in the Supreme Court in the framework of a process for alleged illicit enrichment.
In addition to the accusations, the man from Santander took advantage of the altercation and questioned the feasibility of Petro’s proposal to replace mines with solar energy farms. He also questioned him for replying to a comment in which Hernández was questioned for not paying the ransom for his daughter kidnapped by the ELN. “I hope that Petro never has to make a decision like the one I had to make,” he said.
In 10 days Hernández and Petro will have their definitive face-to-face at the polls, and the prelude to that election continues to heat up with new accusations. Although debates in the media are not planned, both went from cordiality to attack and their confrontation will sharpen as the days go by.