Alliance in sight? Germán Vargas Lleras and Rodrigo Lara Sánchez met in Bogotá

This Thursday, March 31, Rodrigo Lara Sánchez and Germán Vargas Lleras met to discuss infrastructure and investment in aspects such as water and housing, in what could be considered the beginning of a rapprochement between the party led by Vargas Lleras, Radical Change, and the presidential candidate's proposal, Federico Gutierrez.

“We talked with Germán Vargas Lleras about the historic investments in housing and drinking water that he led as vice president. Happy to strengthen my vision in infrastructure and count on your advice and commitment. Our proposal is inclusive and needs all sectors,” Lara Sánchez wrote on her Twitter account, along with the photograph that leads this article.

Germán Vargas Lleras declined his presidential aspiration less than a week after the previous legislative elections, held on March 13, after weeks of rumors that cherished the return to politics of Juan Manuel Santos's former vice president and housing minister.

His party, Cambio Radical, withdrew the registration of Germán Córdoba, who had registered as a presidential candidate to “save the quota” for Vargas Lleras in a move that anticipated his resignation.

After the legislatures, the Bogotá politician received leaders of the Team for Colombia, the right-wing alliance composed of Gutiérrez, Enrique Peñalosa, and the current head of debate, Dilian Francisca Toro, to discuss issues of the national event.

Although Vargas Lleras has not sung his vote for the presidential elections, the tone of Rodrigo Lara Sánchez's message presupposes that an alliance between these two sectors of the right would be consolidated in the coming weeks.

Why did Germán Vargas Lleras decline his presidential aspiration

Through his Sunday column in the newspaper El Tiempo, the former vice president explained what were the conditions he evaluated in the current electoral landscape in order to finally decide that he will not be a candidate and to withdraw Germán Córdoba, on March 18, from registration.

Although the decision not to launch was considered to have responded to the legislative results of the Radical Change lists, for Vargas Lleras “it was to be expected.” According to him, the party has ranged from 7 to 16 senators in the last 20 years. However, last Sunday he attributed it to the absence of the Aguilars, a reduction in the electorate of Casa Char and the retirement of Germán Varón Cotrino.

He also argued that the unpopularity of the government paid a costly toll on Cambio Radical, but also to the Democratic Center that had 13 seats, as well as the U that won 10, along with the Christian parties that were left with 4.

“The vote for the single party logo was over 147,000 votes. But, as is easy to understand, the final result of the votes for CR and that of the consultations for those who participated do not give any room to think about my candidacy,” wrote Vargas Lleras.

For the former vice-president, the undisputed winners of the consultations were Gustavo Petro with more than 5.5 million votes and Federico Gutiérrez with more than 2 million votes, which he attributed “to the determined support of the Government and the Democratic Center”.

According to Vargas Lleras, this is how the votes will move in the next elections, so entering the campaign at this time would not have any results, because the favorites are already defined. “The game ended last Sunday. It was time to decide between Petro and Fico”, concluded Vargas Lleras.

“I have lived in my own flesh what this means. To see how all the spaces are closed and how nothing that is proposed or said finds an echo in the opinion. Thus, it is impossible to think about candidacies, let alone at this point in the party,” said the former vice president, who lost support in the 2018 elections in a dispute between Petro and Iván Duque.

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