Gustavo Petro during a campaign rally in Bogotá on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Fernando Vergara (AP)
The leak of a series of recordings in which Gustavo Petros discusses campaign strategies to attack and discredit his political rivals, revealed just days before the second round of the presidential election in which he will face Rodolfo Hernández, promises to be even more murky – the final stretch of the elections, characterized by the polarization between two opposing options. Out of the Historic Pact, the ragtag left-wing coalition supporting Petro feels it has been the victim of a spy scandal, although the source of the leaks remains unclear, while from other political quarters it has renewed vigor in questioning its approach to campaigning.
The controversy erupted after Semana magazine published a package of videos of internal meetings attended by several members of the Left Alliance on Wednesday evening. Among other things, the records show that in the campaign they tried to control the damage before the news broke that Historic Pact leaders had offered criminals prisons they would not extradite, in the middle of the dust storm for the suggestion of “pardon social” that Petro mentioned. Or the way they discredit right-wing candidate Federico Fico Gutiérrez and undermine the chances of Alejandro Gaviria, one of the candidates in the centrist coalition eventually led by Sergio Fajardo.
The controversy comes as Petro has overtaken Hernández in the polls, which currently point to a technical tie in the second round on June 19. The former mayor of Bucaramanga, an unclassifiable politician with a populist and anti-system discourse who has also appeared in leaks with violent or sexist remarks, started the final leg with some advantage, but Petro has filled the gap. This Thursday he surpassed Hernández for the second day in a row in the “pursuit” carried out by the company GAD3 for the RCN channel, with 48.5% of preferences compared to 46.7%.
In his initial reaction, the left leader pointed out that his campaign had been the victim of a spy scandal and that Semana was “desperate” at his rise in the polls. “They just publish proof that we were recorded illegally. Who? The same ones who gave him recordings: the government. A Watergate to be investigated by an independent commission,” he wrote on Twitter.
The main protagonist of several leaks – in which Petro himself appears but hardly takes part – is Senator Roy Barreras. Referring to the episode of the meetings in prisons with the so-called “extraditables”, Barreras proposes, although the context is not so clear, to “explode” the scandal in a controlled manner, as if it were explosives. In other recordings, he suggests dividing roles to take “political action” aimed at dividing the center, a typical campaign strategy, and “attacking Alejandro Gaviria”.
“Happily, when listeners listen to this and the other recordings, they realize that what is there is absolute normal, legal,” Barreras defended in an interview with Caracol Radio early Thursday. “There isn’t even an adjective or insult to the competitors, which of course are election threats in election marketing,” he insisted, before repeating Petro’s spying complaint. What the records make clear, he stressed, is “that our campaign was spied on, bugged, infiltrated; what is a crime”.
One of the victims, Alejandro Gaviria, has already indicated that he intends to vote for Petro in the second ballot with some reservations, as he sees it as the “more responsible, institutional and liberal” option for a change. He recently told EL PAÍS that he believes other centrist figures are underestimating the risks of an eventual government by Rodolfo Hernández. As a result of the videos that circulated, he released a new one Reflection on your social networks. “I got a lot of attacks. Some of them are mean and liars. From the left and from the right (…) Of course, many of the attacks and slanders hurt me. But I will not continue to hold grudges and rack up grievances,” he wrote. “I disapprove of pettiness in politics, but I believe that when making decisions, one should think first of all about the future of democracy and the well-being of all.”
Other politicians struck a much less conciliatory tone. “Not only do I not share his ideas, I also reject his methods,” said right-wing Fico Gutiérrez, who never stopped attacking Petro during the election campaign. “They’ve spent years destroying anyone who stands in front of them and doesn’t kneel. They use all forms of combat. They divide up the duties privately, so some appear in public as angels. Wrong,” responded Fajardo, who is also mentioned in the notes, having had countless disagreements with Petro that have divided the alternative sector and made it clear that he has no intention of electing him, despite the fact that his programs have had several points . “Clean politics can be made. Do not hesitate. The time will come. They’re the same as always,” he estimated.
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