‘Colombian Trump’ could be next leader
A BAD-tempered, outspoken businessman who mistakenly declared his admiration for Adolf Hitler will face off against a former guerilla today in a runoff election for Colombia’s presidency.
Rodolfo Hernandez, best known for his radio rants and his term as mayor of a mid-tier city, was viewed as a fringe candidate until he surprised pollsters in the first round in May and will compete against 62-year-old Gustavo Petro.
Mr Hernandez is seen as a straighttalking man of the people by supporters thanks to his frank demeanour and promises to root out corruption broadcast via TikTok.
The 77-year-old has pledged to cut the wages of politicians, turn the presidential palace into a museum and travel in a taxi instead of a motorcade.
Polls put him in a dead heat with Mr Petro, who was formerly a member of the defunct M-19, an urban guerrilla movement, and later mayor of Bogota.
Both candidates are riding a wave of anti-establishment rancour and have served terms as city mayor – but there the similarities end.
While Leftist Mr Petro has the academic discourse and bookish appearance of the intelligentsia, millionaire Mr Hernandez has been labelled the “Colombian Trump” for his business background, outlandish proposals and off-the-cuff rants.
His most insensitive remarks including calling Venezuelan women “a factory of poverty” and described Adolf
Hitler as “a great German thinker”, later claiming he had meant Albert Einstein.
“I don’t think he’s really a Nazi, he’s just astonishingly ignorant,” said Angelo Florez De Andrade, professor of foreign relations at Santo Tomas University in Bogota.
She said: “Colombians like him because he reminds us of our grandfathers: he’s authoritarian, funny, and says what he thinks. Often he doesn’t think at all.”
Mr Hernandez’s ill temper has also caught the public eye. A clip of him smacking an opposition councillor in
the face and screaming “son of a bitch” in his ear has gone viral in recent days.
A Hernandez victory would make him the latest in a wave of elite-bashing personalists sweeping Latin America.
As well as Donald Trump, the millionaire populist has been compared to Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president.
If Mr Hernandez fails to secure a place in the Casa de Narino, Mr Petro will become Colombia’s first Leftist president. “It’s all very ridiculous and right now I’m laughing, but there’s a good chance I could be crying on Sunday” Ms Florez said.