Pacific Debate: These are the candidates' proposals for the first 100 days in government

This Sunday, April 24, a presidential debate was held in Cali, where the vast majority of candidates to occupy the Casa de Nariño presented their proposals to improve the Pacific region.

The candidates in attendance were: John Milton Rodríguez, of the Colombia Justa Libres Party; Federico Gutiérrez, Team for Colombia; Sergio Fajardo, of Centro Esperanza; Enrique Gómez, of the National Salvation Movement Party; Luis Emilio Pérez Gutiérrez, of the Colombia Piensa En Grande Party; and Ingrid Betancourt of the Oxygen Green Party.

Gustavo Petro, from the Historical Pact, and Rodolfo Hernández, from the Anti-Corruption Rulers League Movement, were also invited to the debate; however, they did not attend the meeting.

The first 100 days of government

The first question that candidates answered had to do with the decisions in the Pacific that they would make in their first 100 days of government.

The first to answer was John Milton Rodríguez, who said he would develop a city master plan for this region of the country, in which Buenaventura would be where the pilot plan would be established. For his part, Federico Gutiérrez proposed a special management for the region to articulate the decisions of the national government and at the same time a counseling, “to recover Cali”.

Sergio Fajardo announced that his main initiative would make a total intervention in Chocó to recover it; he would carry out an accompaniment in Cali in the face of the situation of violence; in Cauca he would seek a concertation plan to convene the “indigenous, afro and peasant groups to solve the problem that the department has”; and finally in Nariño, the candidate believes that the area has been relegated over the years and would seek to change that.

Enrique Gómez said he would increase the foot of force in cities and seek deployment in rural areas, because “the region has three of the 50 most insecure and violent cities in the world.” For his part, Luis Pérez commented that he would execute an immediate commission to work on the metro for Cali.

Finally, Ingrid Betancourt indicated that she would create a ministry of the regions to have a decentralized leadership in Cali to revive the peaceful plan. “The resources (of the peaceful plan) have disappeared, we have to go and look for them and we are going to create a comprehensive plan that includes infrastructure, security and education,” said the candidate.

Proposals for safety

The candidate for the Green Oxygen party said that what is needed is a reform of the police, so that it “approaches citizens and gives them confidence” along with the presence of the Prosecutor's Office in areas where there is most violence in the country. For his part, Luis Pérez proposed “municipalizing the police” so that it falls under the responsibility of the mayors who are responsible for security in the territory; in addition, he would create the rural police to “defend the peasant and detect in time who the bandits are,” he added.

Enrique Gomez assured that he would carry out a crash plan by increasing the foot of force and threw a whistle at Betancourt's proposal. “The problem is not the police, Ingrid, the problem is the bandits (...) citizens are afraid of them and we are not doing anything for it,” explained the candidate and expressed his desire to transform justice which, for him, “is on the side of the criminal”.

Sergio Fajardo criticized the proposals of his colleagues regarding the increase in the foot of force, because although it is needed, he believes that there is another more important point to address. “Here in Cali we saw a social outbreak” and considered that the most important thing is to support young people without employment and educational opportunities who are “at the gateway to illegality”. This is where his idea of launching a special program for this sector of the population arises.

Federico Gutiérrez proposed the concept of comprehensive security that establishes “total forcefulness against the one who hurts people”. Finally, John Milton Rodriguez commented that he will focus on strengthening state intelligence.

It should be recalled that the debate also dealt with issues such as economy, infrastructure and society. In turn, random questions were asked in each block for the candidates.

Among those that stand out is the controversy of General Eduardo Zapateiro, commander of the Colombian National Army, over his recent statements on political issues in the country. Federico Gutiérrez replied to this: “What the control bodies determine, but I do want to leave a very clear message: my absolute support for our military forces, our army and our police,” he said.

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