On March 13, when the legislative votes were held, Humberto de la Calle was elected senator by the Centro Esperanza Coalition, although the endorsement of his candidacy was given by Green Oxygen, a party that was part of the center alliance, but ended up separating definitively because Ingrid Betancourt expressed its disagreement with “the machinery” that Alejandro Gaviria was adding to his candidacy.
This conflict between the movement represented by Betancourt and the Coalition left in the middle the former peace negotiator, who at the time everything was presented could not reverse the agreement with Oxigeno Verde, but he did not agree with the decision made by the policy as De la Calle made it clear that he would continue to support the agreements that were had achieved for months within the alliance where their current presidential candidate is Sergio Fajado.
Faced with the situation, the senator of Oxigeno Verde has asked Betancourt to reconcile with the Coalition and support Fajardo's candidacy, he has also expressed his resounding disagreement with approaches with movements such as the Democratic Center and has made him aware of his disagreements with the decisions he has taken contrary to those he expressed at beginning of the electoral contest.
After not feeling listened to and harmed by Betancourt's decisions, this April 7 in the morning hours Humberto de la Calle posted a video on his social networks where with a tape in his mouth he shows that he feels censored in these elections and asks a question that generates suspicion: “Who do you think I'm going to vote for?”
The video, which lasts no more than 10 seconds, sends a strong message that shows once again that he is not willing to support the candidacy of Ingrid Betancourt and that, because he does not fall into double membership, he has decided to remain silent, although his position in the first presidential round is very clear.
A few days ago, Daniel Carvalho and Humberto de la Calle, the two congressmen of the Green Oxygen party but who are more inclined to the ideas of the Esperanza Center Coalition, in a statement rejected the presidential candidate's meeting with Álvaro Uribe Vélez, stating that “it is clearly incoherent to seek alliances with parties such as the Democratic Center. In this case, we are also emphatic in saying that the ideas of former President Uribe thoroughly contradict our convictions and vision of the country.”
Faced with this, she replied on her Twiiter account that, “it's surprising that when they want to be with Sergio they don't want to be part of the party and when they want to neutralize the party's strategy, now they are from here. We are calling for a major national pact against corruption, where are you?” and then in an interview with Blu Radio he said: “There are several options, I think that at some point they should think about withdrawing from the party, because they don't converge with the decisions and I don't see how else this could be solved. They have some obligations to the party.”
After this, Daniel Carvalho, in an interview with El Espectador, referred to what happened with the presidential candidate, said that Betancourt is going to “pay dearly for her incoherence” due to her latest pronouncements and approaches with some political sectors. Carvalho also assured that he and Humberto de la Calle are “tied” in the first round by an electoral law.
“She talks about a match strategy, but in reality there is only one strategy of her own. With that I feel quite uncomfortable and a little disappointed because, I insist, the will of me and many is to build the Oxygen Green Party”, the congressman of the Oxygen Green party said to El Espectador.
KEEP READING