How politicians reacted to the closeness between Ingrid Betancourt and the Democratic Center

The presidential candidate of the Oxygen Green party, Ingrid Betancourt, announced that she was building bridges with the Democratic Center party less than two months before the first presidential round is held in Colombia.

The former senator, who was part of the Centro Esperanza Coalition and announced her retirement weeks before the legislative elections were held, arguing that some of the candidates of the center alliance were being supported by the “political machineries”, indicated that through these approaches with the ruling party, they sought to “build a united front for the country, leaving machinery aside”.

Faced with this unexpected announcement by the presidential candidate, several politicians and opinion leaders spoke out, starting with the former president and natural leader of the Democratic Center, Álvaro Uribe, who said he was grateful to the former senator and stressed that it was “very important to advance the dialogue with her, her team and the party of government”.

In response to the message of the former president, the Oxygen Green candidate replied that from the center they were ready for a great national dialogue, while inviting us to form a great common front to promote reconciliation and against “machinery”, assuring that “in order to free Colombia from corruption it is important that we unite beyond ideologies”.

For her part, the Senator of the Historical Pact, María José Pizarro, pointed out that for Betancourt the border was machinery, “all except those of Uribism”, which she considered regrettable and assured that they would defeat Uribism and “retrograde and corrupt hegemony”.

Also, the internationalist Laura Gil pointed out that the Oxygen Green candidate considered former president Álvaro Uribe a luxury interlocutor, “let him go and ask the RCN journalist if this man has machinery. What a big damage it does with so little,”

Another of those who spoke forcefully, but without naming Betancourt, was the former Minister of Health and presidential pre-candidate of the Centro Esperanza Coalition, Alejandro Gaviria, who shared on his Twitter account the message: “hypocritical and opportunistic”, which was answered by the candidate stating that “this was the culture of violence and intolerance that leads to justifying accommodation with corruption. The machines, they don't have ideologies. Today with one, tomorrow with the other. Didn't you learn your lesson?”

Another of those who spoke with the announcement was the senator of the Green Alliance party, Antonio Sanguino, “what I told you in private I repeat publicly to whom I considered my friend, Ingrid Betancourt. Uribism brings together the worst of politics: family clans and the combination of all forms of criminality in politics,” he said.

For her part, the former senator replied that polarization went hand in hand with corruption, which is why she indicated that in order to break with the logic of machinery, we had to speak “with all political aspects. Continuing to do politics with hatred condemns violence and corruption.”

KEEP READING