“I feel calm, although there is a lot of responsibility,” Rodrigo Lara referred to his candidacy for vice presidency

On Saturday, March 26, Federico Gutiérrez, the candidate of the Team for Colombia, announced to the country, the name of his formula to the vice-presidency: Rodrigo Lara Sánchez. The news brought surprises to different political spaces and groups because Lara belonged to the Green Party, who emphatically warned that its members are free to vote for any alternative candidate such as: Gustavo Petro, Sergio Fajardo and Rodolfo Hernández, but that Gutiérrez would not be a viable option.

After multiple criticisms, the candidate for the Vice Presidential of the Team for Colombia, in an interview with Caracol Radio, noted that the alliance came after a call with Gutiérrez with whom he has maintained a friendship since the two were mayors in the period from 2016 to 2019.

“I feel like it takes a long time, in fact, a lot has happened in a short time. I feel calm, although there is a lot of responsibility. I have a friendship with Fico for many years. From the Mayor's Office we have established a great friendship and we have maintained it. I called him, congratulated him and told me to work with him. We spoke again that week, thinking about the Huila department, and he told me that he wanted me to be his vice-president,” he said about the process and added that the decision was consulted with his wife, who supported him, later he called Fico and he proposed to make the alliance public through a public event.

Lara Sánchez's foray into political life is rather recent, because she devoted much of her life to medical services in hospitals in Bogotá and Neiva. In 2010 he tried to reach the Senate through the Citizen Commitment list, the same movement of Sergio Fajardo. It had the ninth highest vote, but the significant group of citizens did not exceed the threshold to win seats. After this, he joined the Green Party, where he was endorsed to be mayor of Huila and with the movement that today has significant differences.

“I was part (of the Green Party) and I am proud to have worked with Mockus and I think the truth is not from one sector. I see campaigns here that say that these are the cigars. I believe that we are all political actors, to engage in dialogue with the regions. I don't have any political leaders and I didn't have to keep it with anyone. I have a service, I have my resume,” the doctor clarified.

Let us remember that in addition to no longer belonging to the Green Party, Lara Sánchez seems to have achieved approaches with Radical Change, a party to which her brother Rodrigo Lara Restrepo belongs and which is represented by the ideas of former vice president German Vargas Lleras.

“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.

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