Three weeks before the first electoral day of this 2022 in Colombia, the president of the Liberal Party, César Gaviria, referred to the future of the movement he leads. The politician indicated that although they have not given the endorsement to any presidential candidate, he does not rule out allying himself with those who launched the debate. Likewise, he assured that in the parliamentary elections “the Reds” they will consolidate themselves as a political force.
“In effect, today we don’t have a candidate, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t have one or we won’t support someone. We are going to look for who has an affinity with us,” Gaviria assured in an interview with Noticias Caracol on February 22.
The leader of the traditional red party referred to three specific politicians: the presidential candidates of the Coalition of Hope Sergio Fajardo and Alejandro Gaviria; and Gustavo Petro, candidate for the Historical Pact. This last mention was the one that attracted the most attention, since it was considered that they were on very distant shores.
Cesar Gaviria did not assure that he is going to ally himself with Petro, but neither does he outright deny the possibility. He indicated that for now he will meet with the politician in the first days of March to discuss ideas.
“What we are going to have is a discussion of the issues. Of course there will be coffee with Petro and we will discuss the issues and problems. In some, we (Liberal Party) are identified with him, and he represents very marginalized sectors of Colombian society, in others not, like what he said regarding the Banco de la República and health,” Gaviria said.
He explained that he does not agree with Petro’s idea of reforming the Bank of the Republic and classified the initiative as populist. In addition, he assured that this would worsen inflation.
Regarding the health system, Gaviria assured that this is the best and should not be reformed either. He pointed out that EPS cannot be eliminated because people would not have anyone to care for them when they get sick.
As for Alejandro Gaviria, the leader of the Reds confirmed in the interview with Noticias Carcol that he had already met with the former Minister of Health but they did not agree to ally. He pointed out that they limited themselves to talking regarding topics of common interest.
“I asked him how the campaign was going, gave him some thoughts on what he’s saying. We, as you know, had thought of him as the candidate, but he went to the Coalition. That had created a distance, but it does not mean that we cannot vote for him at some point,” said Cesar Gaviria.
When referring to Fajardo, the atmosphere became hostile. Gaviria made it clear that he does not share the positions of the former governor of Antioquia and assured that he did not understand how he intends to do politics. His main criticism is the rejection that Fajardo has reiterated of the Liberal Party and, in general, of the traditional movements.
“’How are you going to disqualify everyone? How are they going to take away the right of people to act in politics and to propose things and to support people? They can’t remove that. (…) He (Fajardo) is not a pure or celestial being. He is just any human being, like all politicians. What a pity with him but he has nothing exceptional, ”said Gaviria.
During the interview, Gaviria also assured that the Liberal Party hopes to distance itself from the Democratic Center, because “the country is tired of the same thing.”
Likewise, he launched other controversial comments regarding corruption and patronage. He assured that these are variables inherent to the human condition and they are not so bad and another is that State resources are abused
“Politics and corruption are issues of the human condition. Of course, clientelism in some cases is necessary and convenient. In this country there are millions of poor, abandoned people that nobody turns to look at them and there are some gentlemen dedicated to looking for subsidies for them. Sorry, but that’s not so bad.” Gaviria said.
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