Lower than three weeks earlier than Colombians head to the polls in presidential elections, centrist candidate Claudia Lopez’s odds at victory are slim, to say the least.
Since successful the first contest to guide the Session of Options (Consulta de las Soluciones) bloc in March, the silver-haired former mayor of Bogotá has been criss-crossing the nation to win over reasonable voters.
However the newest polls report the 56-year-old’s share of the vote as being within the low single digits.
Wearing her signature gilet and sipping from a mug of espresso, the previous Harvard College visitor lecturer says in flawless English that she desires to do the interview in Spanish – “I must get folks to vote for me,” she jokes.
With little to lose, López speaks candidly about her time in workplace, her views on different politicians, and her expertise on the marketing campaign path.
Watch the complete interview right here
Reflections on her mayorship
López, who steered Bogotá by way of the Covid-19 pandemic and a mass wave of anti-government protests, speaks proudly of her stint as mayor from 2020 to 2024.
The presidential hopeful rattles off an inventory of her achievements in workplace: her administration of the Covid-19 pandemic, lifting 600,000 ladies out of poverty, and rolling out Bogotá’s public bicycle community.
López additionally speaks candidly concerning the issues throughout her mayorship, which spanned the administrations of presidents Iván Duque and Gustavo Petro.
“Curiously, I ended up having a better relationship with President Duque, a right-winger, than with my left-wing president, whom I voted for,” says López.
López, who publicly backed Petro’s candidacy, describes friction between the nationwide authorities and the mayor’s workplace.
“President Petro is an effusive chief, however he’s too effusive, very machista, and I, properly, I don’t agree with that; if there’s one factor I can’t stand in my life, it’s the abuse of energy.”
On the marketing campaign path
At this time, the previous senator finds herself attempting to carve out a spot in a loud election cycle marked by political extremes and polarization.
Her coalition’s platform is predicated on three pillars: safety and territorial governance; equality and social justice; and regional improvement with out corruption.
López’s shift to the middle has drawn some criticism, together with from voters who word the previous Inexperienced Alliance member’s u-turn on key environmental points like fracking.
Final yr, she declared: “If god gave us oil, coal, and fuel, that’s what we are going to use.”
“I preserve this stance,” insists López, including she opposes the Petro administration’s pause on all oil and fuel exploration. “Stopping fuel exploration means halting Colombia’s vitality transition – it’s a mistake.”
López argues the coverage has broken the financial system and decreased funds for funding and improvement.
As an alternative, she backs a gradual transition: “I estimate that the transition in Colombia from fossil fuels to cleaner vitality sources will take us about 25 years, give or take.”
The candidate believes in preserving biodiversity, saying she wouldn’t authorize mineral exploration within the nation’s forests or protected areas, marking a softer stance than a few of her opponents.
Amongst her rivals, López is particularly essential of right-wing legal protection lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella.
“He’s the one candidate – let’s put it this manner – whom I’d completely by no means vote for. He’s a defender of mobsters. He’s a shadowy character,” says López.
De la Espriella notoriously represented figures linked to paramilitary loss of life squads, the pinnacle of the worst pyramid scheme in Colombian historical past, and Alex Saab, thought of the frontman for corruption schemes by former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
López argues that he’s an Uribista – a supporter of the politics of right-wing ex-president Álvaro Uribe – however is on a unique “aspect of the coin” to Uribe’s chosen candidate, Paloma Valencia.
“Paloma is certainly a supporter of Uribe, however she’s by no means precisely been a defender of mobsters,” explains López.
The ex-mayor refused to rule out voting for Valencia or for leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda, the 2 frontrunners alongside de la Espriella.
However López, a lesbian girl, is staunchly essential of Valencia’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights. The candidate for Uribe’s Democratic Middle (Centro Democrático) get together opposes adoption by same-sex {couples} whereas her get together has blocked bans on conversion remedy.
She is especially essential of Juan Daniel Oviedo, a homosexual politician, for agreeing to be Valencia’s operating mate in March.
“I remorse that Juan Daniel Oviedo feels compelled to play together with that anti-rights agenda. The truth is, I consider he’s the one one who has been instructed to his face that he’s not thought of an equal human being, that he’s not thought of a citizen with the identical rights, and that they don’t belief him to boost a toddler,” says López.
Regardless of her objections to Valencia, López says she nonetheless is not going to rule out voting for her within the second spherical, citing the inconceivable risk that Paloma faces de la Espriella in a run-off.
However the former mayor maintains she wouldn’t endorse Valencia and Oviedo in any eventuality: “I wouldn’t marketing campaign for them, ask anybody to vote for them, or endorse them.”
Trying to the long run
Lastly, confronted with almost inconceivable odds in Could’s elections, López initiatives a springy optimism about her political future.
“I’m very pleased with the marketing campaign I’ve run, and I’m very grateful to the Colombian folks,” says the candidate, stressing that it’s simply her first stab on the presidency.
“Ours is a brand new grassroots motion; we solely simply collected the signatures final yr, so I really feel grateful, joyful, and really excited, and I’m going to proceed in politics and proceed working to construct Colombian social democracy.”
This text initially appeared on The Bogotá Post and was republished with permission.
Featured picture description: Claudia Lopez.
Featured picture credit score: Billy Ramsey.
