They showed us the short film, the movie is worse.

By: Francisco Santos - 04/11/2025

Gustavo Petro, the unforgettable one, has already shown us what the 2026 congressional and presidential elections will be like. He showed us the short film "How Elections Are Stolen," and the summary text on the poster says: "This is how contractors, mayors, and governors are extorted, this is how votes are bought, and this is how criminal organizations are used to win elections."

That's part of the summary of last Sunday's elections, when the Historical Pact garnered 2.7 million votes. The candidate's name doesn't matter, although Iván Cepeda and his photos with all the FARC members are going to be part of a very entertaining campaign. Nor does it matter how the congressional lists will turn out, although the most voted-for figure in Huila is an unknown in the department, Pedro Flórez, a man in the inner circle of Euclides Torres, the corrupt contractor, close friend, and financier of the unforgettable one. Oh, and with 17,000 votes, he quintupled the votes of the teacher, environmental activist, and current congresswoman for the Historical Pact in Huila. It's clear that the unforgettable one and his entourage care more about Euclides and his money than about governance and setting a good example for the community.

The mastermind behind this operation is Clinton List member Armando Benedetti, who thought it was possible to garner 7 million votes. He didn't succeed—it was nearly impossible—but, frankly, what they achieved with all the corrupt schemes orchestrated from the home of the unforgettable [name omitted] is a success that should set off alarm bells for the opposition.

That result wasn't enough for them, which is why the two prominent figures on the Clinton List, Petro and Benedetti, launched accusations against the National Registrar, Hernán Penagos. The reason? This impressive result, a product of all that corruption, isn't enough for the elections they have to compete in next March. The parliamentary election results are going to be much worse than four years ago, and they need an excuse, which, obviously, is to accuse the registrar of fraud. They're laying the groundwork.

The most detailed analysis of the elections is clear. Voters for the Pact and areas where armed groups operate are highly correlated. It's becoming increasingly clear how Petro's "total peace" and his anti-narcotics "policy" are merely electoral tactics in which criminal organizations deliver votes to the unforgettable one in exchange for policies favorable to their businesses. The Mexicanization of Colombian politics, where drug cartels favor a particular party, is one of the unforgettable one's greatest successes.

The Caribbean coast is also a stronghold of the unforgettable. Undoubtedly, there's something deeper there, a blend of traditional political corruption—which the unforgettable manipulates like a magician—and a sense of rejection and weariness with traditional politics. In that region, whoever can interpret this feeling of rejection, including what the unforgettable represents, has an opportunity to find a vast political space that is currently dormant. However, one must be extremely careful in the presidential elections, because Petro and Santos, in the second round, achieved 'surprising' results that propelled them to power, results that can only be explained through corruption and fraud. Who ran both campaigns? The infamous figure on the Clinton List, Benedetti. He knows how to buy and steal elections, and that's exactly what he did for these two figures.

The other result that offers a glimmer of hope—a glimmer, because the unforgettable one and his partner on the Clinton List in Colombia know how to steal and buy votes—is the drop in voter turnout in major cities. Undoubtedly, the opinion-based vote that secured their victories in both the parliamentary and presidential elections has abandoned them. Are any teachers dying from the disastrous state of the healthcare system this government has destroyed going to vote for them? Are any oil workers, members of the USO union, going to vote for them when they're about to dismantle Ecopetrol and the business they depend on? It will be difficult to win back those votes, especially with Cepeda as the candidate, who represents something far more radical than the unforgettable one himself.

And the opposition? I hope they finally realize the enormous threat that the unforgettable one and his mafia allies represent. This result puts their candidate close to the second round if there aren't clear decisions to field unified candidates who can truly compete against the mafia and their candidate.

Two blocs are already emerging. One, Juan Manuel Santos's, which, with its tentacles in the Petro camp, is trying to create a false center-left with Fajardo, Claudia López, Roy Barreras, and other figures who, let's not kid ourselves, represent more of the same that governs today, even if they try to distance themselves from it. The second is the center-right, which, let's not kid ourselves, is a disaster, a mess, and a competition of egos that doesn't allow for a clear future. Will they be able to put together a single candidate for the 2026 presidential elections? If they don't, the runoff will be between the candidates of Santos and Petro. Unbelievable.

We've seen the short film. Now comes the feature film. Will we be wise enough to act accordingly? For now, at least on the center-right, I don't see it. We'll see what happens for the rest of the year.

«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».