Federico Fico Gutierrez has been the most solid presidential candidate of the Colombian since the night of Sunday. This is not his first time appearing on an electoral card. The former mayor was a mayor and councilor in Medellin. His first test in national elections which saw him receive more than two millions votes in the Team for Colombia coalition, saw him placed as a preferred candidate by conservative groups. Fico (47-year old Fico) is the main opponent of Gustavo Petro. The Historic Pact movement, along with Gustavo Petro, was one the winners of last night’s election that established who would be the main political forces.
The presidential campaign is only starting. Whether the ex-mayor of Medellin will be a true opposition to petrismo is contingent on the alliances and negotiations which he develops in the coming days. Not only will he be expected to bring all the right-wing forces under his leadership as well as be able to win over a segment of the electorate at the center that was deflated on Sunday without any leadership that was remarkable. To do this it is necessary to avoid, as he has done to date, appearing in the same photograph with the former president Alvaro Uribe. For the first time in the past 20 years, open support for uribism may rather than subtract. ” https://www.cookprocessor.com/members/fico-gutierreznjkw079/activity/1744323/ faces a dilemma. He needs to make an alliance with the Democratic Center (CD) – Uribe’s party – but at the same time he will have to convince the center, which will have to decide where it is going,” says Yann Basset an expert and professor at the University of Rosario.
On the way to joining forces with the CD in the region in which uribism is a major issue on Monday, Fico has already achieved its first conquest. Oscar Ivan Zuluaga who was an aspirant to the presidency, stepped aside to acknowledge the few chances he had of competing with him. Now we will have to wait and see if the Uribismo group, which has been left without a representative, will do the same. Uribe should be willing to his support and attempt to persuade his electorate by addressing the traditional questions of Colombian right. It shouldn’t be difficult. Already, his address on “security” as well as “order”, opportunities and love of our country has shown that Uribe is adding votes. He confirmed this with the election consult, the same way he did in the past in Antioquia’s Mayor Office. While on a recent trip to Arauca (an area which has been particularly impacted by violence), he stated “The bandits are in prison or in graves.” Fico is well conscious of the Colombian right’s preferred positions however that won’t suffice for him.
Basset says, “We aren’t in 2018 where the fear of the Left performed well.” According to Basset, the fact that the figure of Alvaro Uribe is not one of the leaders that the country had seen since 2002 the time he was elected president for the first time. Moreover, the fact that his party, the CD has been through a bad moment which could result in Fico not receive, at least openly, Uribe’s approval. While Uribismo isn’t in the running but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Gutierrez cannot count on the support of Uribismo. Uribism was also a factor in this win. Basset warnsthat “Now his ability as an negotiator [winning in the coalition] will be judged in the ability to convince the right and not to spend all on the alliance.” Andres Medjia vergnaud made a comment about the relationship between the former president and Fico. “The great problem of Federico Gutierrez’s is that he wants Uribismo to vote for his candidate, but without Uribe as a photo the image doesn’t work for his style.”
Gustavo Petro is the only leader on the left But Gustavo Petro is the only one on the right. Fico, if he can reach a consensus, will convince him to give his backing and step aside. Rodolfo Hernandez, who launched on his own, is currently in contention. Gutierrez is expected to have many accomplishments including the former mayor of Bucaramanga who is a builder and millionaire.
Gutierrez has a lot to discuss before even thinking about names for his potential presidential strategy, but what he already has is the backing of other candidates who were vying for the top spot in the Team for Colombia coalition. It’s not all that. He is surrounded by two former mayors Enrique Penalosa (Bogota) and Alex Char (Barranquilla); the leader of the Conservative party, David Barguil, and an individual woman named Aydee Lizarazo, of the Christian party, who usually votes judiciously as ordered from the lectern in his church.
The Conservative Party has been strengthened – it received the largest support from right-wing groups with more that 2 million votes. Furthermore the U Party has shown sympathy for the Conservative Party. They also received an impressive election, with just over one million votes, for the legislative. The support of Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, who has not allowed a lot of time to pass after Sunday’s elections and apologize for his loss ahead of a possible battle for the votes of the right provides Fico an opportunity to gain momentum in the conservative wing however, it distances Fico from possible votes from the middle. What former president Alvaro Uribe says, who summoned his party for a meeting on Tuesday, will be the definitive point to know in the event that Fico risks his chances for a moderate position by being the blessed of Uribe.