“My commitment is to lead Colombia from the regions to build a country in Order and with Opportunities”, reads on the website that outlines the government plan of Federico Gutiérrez, candidate for the presidency of the country. On that portal, the team of the candidate for the head of state published a 103-page document that establishes what would be the arrival at the Casa de Nariño de Gutiérrez, in the event of winning the elections that will take place in just weeks and that will end the administration of Iván Duque.
“I don't want to be a messiah; I am an ordinary Colombian, like any other, with a vocation for service (...) to transform Colombia, built from the street, through social dialogue with the regions, but based on in-depth expert study and a common understanding of national problems,” commented the presidential candidate of the Team for Colombia coalition. The former mayor of Medellín explained that this is an archive with 264 proposals and 100 initial goals.
According to 'Fico', insecurity; corruption; democracy at risk; insufficient growth, low productivity and unemployment; and poverty and inequality are their main concerns and problems to work with. The government plan of 'Fico' and its vice-presidential formula, lays down two main bases: order and opportunities.
“(...) So that resources are not lost or stolen, to ensure that people feel safe and calm, and that those who commit crimes pay for their crimes and do not go unpunished (...) so that all people, regardless of their status, can dream and have the tools to fulfill their dreams. Opportunities to have better education, better jobs and, ultimately, better quality of life”, wrote the aspirant to occupy the Casa de Nariño in the document.
Four strategies emerge from the two main pillars: Combating corruption, strengthening security and justice, economic growth to create employment and reduce poverty.
Regarding the fight against corruption, the candidate explained “that it contains our commitment to transparency, accountability and transparent contracting”. It raises specific measures such as prison sentences, political death and loss of investiture for corrupt officials. It wants to abolish those laws, which it qualifies as “business laws”, to prevent citizens from being harmed by unfair payments. He wants to “prevent custom contracts and cost overruns in works, which is where the resources of Colombians are stolen.”
In the section on strengthening security and justice, Fico points out that “it contains clear proposals to restore security and citizen coexistence, control of territory, access for citizens to effective justice and the reduction of impunity (...) to strengthen the fight against theft and robbery in all the cities of the country”. On this point, the specialization of the security forces in terms of human rights, cybersecurity, intelligence, and criminal investigation stands out.
It places particular emphasis on protecting young people from falling into criminal networks and on strengthening the fight against drug trafficking. The latter is based on three special regulations: crop substitution with an agrarian and territorial development approach for peasants who today live from the planting of illicit crops; the vision of addiction as a public health problem and the creation of mechanisms for its prevention and care; and capacity-building operational to dismantle the drug trafficking chain, emphasizing the interdiction of chemical inputs, production and finance
With regard to economic growth to create jobs, 'Fico' emphasizes that, his plan “contains the economic and fiscal agendas, and with the productive sectors”. Its goal is to create 1.2 million jobs, in order to “maintain an unemployment rate of less than 9 percent during our government.” It wants to create a responsible fiscal and monetary environment, supporting the country's economic institutions “starting with the Banco de la República, whose independence we understand as an asset of all Colombians.”
In order to reduce poverty, he emphasizes in his fourth point of the plan, “it covers the entire social agenda that we are going to implement to close social gaps and promote equity between the population and the Colombian territories.” He says he hopes to integrate and expand the safety net and social assistance, which would allow cash transfers to 5 million poor households, “progressively replacing the stratification scheme”. He hopes to guarantee three meals a day to the most needy populations in the country.
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