What did the candidates say in the presidential debate of the so-called Frontline

The demonstrations in Colombia have not been the same since 2019, where the so-called 'First Line', a group of young people who accompanied the mobilizations, was seen in the country, presumably to ensure the safety and development of the marches. Since then, many have seen the Frontline as a group that ensures the safety of demonstrations and marches, while other sectors point out that they only incite and provoke vandalism.

This subject of diverse opinions was addressed yesterday, March 21 in the presidential debate broadcast by RCN Noticias and RCN Radio, where candidates for the presidency of the Republic Sergio Fajardo, Ingrid Betancourt, Federico Gutiérrez and Enrique Gómez, spoke about the Frontline, in some cases the candidates assured that these groups are the responsibility of opposition politicians.

One of those who spoke and caused great controversy was Federico Guitiérrez, but more than his speech, what generated a stir in the networks and made him the target of criticism and ridicule was that he used a photo of Gustavo Petro, who was absent from the debate as a protest against the alleged irregularities in the recount of votes requested by the National Registrar.

'Fico' while holding an image of the Historic Pact Candidate who leads in the voting intention polls said: “Who did that? That man who did not come and his cronies, that Frontline is politically attached to those principles that they represent, we do not put democracy or freedoms at risk”.

The candidate of the Team for Colombia and apparently for Uribism, Federico Gutiérrez added about the legality of the group: “What cannot happen is violence and blockades, there are young people who have been deceived and instrumentalized, I invite you to leave now, because there are others who are part of urban guerrillas, and we are going to persecute them, not it can still happen that two or three people go and block the road and then there are the costs in the family basket and food goes up,” he said in the debate.

For his part, who was making his first debut in a presidential debate, the candidate Enrique Gómez, also pointed out the responsibility of the absent Petro and ignored some kind of objective in the Frontline: “They are the forces of a candidate who did not want to come today, that is not the Colombian's protest of good, but of the protest that wants to scare him. to society; Petro has warned that when he does not win the elections he will continue to burn the country, disrespecting the security forces. They want to generate fear for the population, we must reinforce the Esmad and video cameras in their uniforms.”

The candidate for the Centro Esperanza Coalition went a little deeper than his rivals, and highlighted the needs generated for groups such as the Frontline to be generated in the framework of a social protest: “The unrest of young people led to large demonstrations. In the midst of the pandemic, in 2021, another tax reform arrives, where in the midst of the suffering of the Colombian people, taxes were raised on Colombian society, that caused discomfort.”

While Ingrid Betancourt, candidate of the Oxygen Green movement, assured that the solution is not to stigmatize the group as criminals, but to provide planned accompaniment with the authorities: “This youth was labeled as' terrorists' and that is not fair, there were people who did need to protest, in my government we are going to to protect, in the Frontline not everyone was violent, not all of them were people who allowed themselves to be manipulated by infiltrations of the guerrilla and political movements”.

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