The threat that haunts the peace seats in the Caribbean - Congress - Elections 2022

The victims of the country’s armed conflict see in the Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Peace (CTEP) the opportunity to achieve political participation, in addition to making visible the tragedy that they have lived through for years in their territories.

(Also: They ask to comply with the suspension of construction in Cerro Hurtado, Valledupar)

That is why for the communities and social organizations, of victims and peasants, these peace seats are the space to obtain political representation in The congress that allows them to mark out resources that help their territories.

“It is a way to restore the full exercise of their political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights,” he says. Luis Trejos Rosero, teacher-researcher from the Universidad del Norte Luis Trejo, PhD in American Studies, and director of the UNCaribe Thought Center Observatory.

(Read: They report a new emission of ash from the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Manizales)

It is a way to restore the full exercise of their political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights”

In one of his recent texts, Trejo in the company of his colleague Reynell Badillo, in which they analyze the risks of peace seats in the Caribbean, recalls that in 2017 the Congress of the Republic established that 167 municipalities in the country would host the 16 constituencies. Of these, 40 are in the Caribbean region, located specifically in the departments of Bolivar, Sucre, Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena, and Cordoba.

“In other words, the region would have four representatives for the CTEPs: one for C8 (Montes de María), one for C12 (Sierra Nevada, Perijá and Zona Bananera), one for C13 (Sur de Bolívar) and one for the C14 (South of Córdoba)” specifies the text, in which they indicate that these seats are transitory in nature (they would work for the periods 2022-2026 and 2026-2030) and would be added to the 166 seats that currently make up the House of Representatives.

The risks in the region

Trejos and Badillo highlight the benefits of these peace seats for the leaders of these hard-hit territories to achieve their representation in Congress, but they do not hide that there are serious risks to guaranteeing transparent participation, given the conditions of the municipalities: violence associated with the armed conflictillegal rents and patronage political dynamics.

In the Caribbean, these special zones are located in the Montes de Mariasouth of Bolívar, south of Córdoba, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Serranía del Perijá and the Banana Zone.

(You may be interested: They attacked an opossum that was taking care of its young in Medellín with machetes)

The researchers highlight the report of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM)which warns that of the 40 Caribbean municipalities that will participate in the CTEP elections, 25 have registered acts of political violence between 2016 (signing of the Agreement) and 2021.

Violence has not ceased in these territories

Among the main obstacles that threaten this process is “the violence that has not ceased in any of the subregions,” say the researchers.

In their analysis of the region, they detail that the expansion of the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), the presence of the Conqueror Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN) and the Eln, and the arrival of dissidents from the FARC-EP “they threaten to make these elections marked by violence and the impossibility of campaigning freely in rural territories,” they underline.

(Be sure to read: Unpublished photos of military practice in Cartagena with a nuclear submarine)

Another risk that surrounds the election of the representatives of these peace seats are the traditional parties, which could use these constituencies as ways to put their political allies.

Although the registered persons must prove their status as victims, this does not mean that they represent the interests of the victims of the armed conflict.

“Although the registered persons must prove their status as victims, this does not mean that they represent the interests of the victims. victims of the conflict armed or from their territories, so there is room for legality, but not legitimacy in the seats”, indicates the analysis of Trejos and Badillo.

Lastly, academics warn of the very large distance in several municipalities between the electoral census and the number of registered victims.

“This can give rise, again, to the fact that, due to the low number of votes, the local machinery moves to support a candidate who can easily win. The inexperience of social organizations in matters of electoral logistics and voter mobilization can also work against it. The scenario can become diffuse considering that they must compete with illegal groupspolitical elites and against themselves”, the report points out.

BARRANQUILLA

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Elections 2022: Atlantic seats in the House of Representatives - Congress - Elections 2022

Little or nothing is defined for the new Congress of the Republic (2022-2026), whose candidates will submit to the elections on March 13. However, among the candidates for the House of Representatives by the Atlantic there is one who would have his position assured.

(Also read: 18 polling stations in Barranquilla present electoral risk)

This is the head of the list of the Comunes party (former FARC), Germán Gómez, thanks to one of the agreements reached in the peace negotiations, which they finally signed with the Santos Government in 2016.

It must be remembered that a total of 10 seats were established in the Havana process, of which five are for the Senate and another five for the House of Representatives.

In the previous period, that Atlantic seat, the only one for the Caribbean region, was assigned to Seuxis Pausias Hernández, known during his militancy in the guerrilla with the alias of Jesus Santrich.

But it ended in an ’empty chair’ in the Chamber, due to the arrest of the sucreño for alleged cocaine trafficking, escape, joining the dissidents and subsequent death in the Serranía del Perijá.

From seven to eight: the department adds one seat

That seat could balance forces. For more than 15 years there has been no representation in the Atlantic by a left-wing party

In this electoral process, Comunes decided again to retake the seat for the Atlántico, so the department would go from seven to eight seats in the new period of the lower house of Congress.

This party presented a closed list headed by Gómez, who, regardless of the number of votes he obtains next Sunday, March 13, would have a seats directly product of the Agreement.

According to the political analyst, Alejandro Blanco, this seat has two special characteristics: the first is that it would change the balance by adding one more quota for the department, and the second is that this electoral exercise of the Commons is financed by the State.

“That seat could balance forces. For more than 15 years there has been no representation in the Atlantic by a left-wing party. This could change some dynamics between the representatives”, said the also professor at the Free University of Barranquilla.

He added that another element that would require one more seat is that it could open the debate on the building a culture of peace in the department, “under the understanding that the Atlantic for different reasons has been far from the dynamics of the implementation of the Agreement.”

The ex-combatant who is on the run through municipalities

One is the quality of public services, mobility in transport with the Transmetro crisis

The candidate Germán Gómez was born 58 years ago in Sincelejo, but since he was 8 years old he went to live in Barranquilla. In the 80s, being medical studentfrom the Metropolitan University, joined the Communist Youth, went to the UP, later joined the Farc, until laying down arms in 2016.

“It is an interesting situation that the citizens of the Atlantic can count on an alternative seat, that is, a spokesperson that will make visible all the problems and the possible solutions that they deserve, for the steps that we can make before the state organisms, in the process of to obtain resources for the development of this region”, said Gómez.

During this campaign, according to what he said, he has visited the municipalities of Santa Lucia, Repelon, SabanagrandeSabanalarga and the metropolitan area of ​​Barranquilla, where he has identified five “among many” problems that must be addressed by Congress.

“There are a number of problems that overwhelm the Atlantic people, but we have detected five: one is the quality of public services, transport mobility with the Transmetro crisis and inter-municipal transport, the other issue is unemployment, hunger and lastly, insecurity”, he pointed out.

(You may be interested in: This is how the campaigns for peace seats in the Caribbean move)

Likewise, he lamented “the impasse with justice” of Jesús Santrich, for which the ’empty chair’ was decreed for this seat.

“The Atlantic could not enjoy the management in these four years of this seat. Today we are thinking that, although time does not recover, we have the mission of positioning ourselves as that alternative seat that the common people of the department can enjoy, with an agile, effective and committed management to manage to rescue the right that corresponds to the Atlantic”, closed the applicant.

Deivis Lopez Ortega
Correspondent of EL TIEMPO Barranquilla
On twitter: @dejholopez
Write me at deilop@eltiempo.com

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The threat that haunts the peace seats in the Caribbean - Elections 2022

The victims of the country’s armed conflict see in the Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Peace (CTEP) the opportunity to achieve political participation, in addition to making visible the tragedy that they have lived through for years in their territories.

(Also: They ask to comply with the suspension of construction in Cerro Hurtado, Valledupar)

That is why for the communities and social organizations, of victims and peasants, these peace seats are the space to obtain political representation in The congress that allows them to mark out resources that help their territories.

“It is a way to restore the full exercise of their political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights,” he says. Luis Trejos Rosero, teacher-researcher from the Universidad del Norte Luis Trejo, PhD in American Studies, and director of the UNCaribe Thought Center Observatory.

(Read: They report a new emission of ash from the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Manizales)

It is a way to restore the full exercise of their political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights”

In one of his recent texts, Trejo in the company of his colleague Reynell Badillo, in which they analyze the risks of peace seats in the Caribbean, recalls that in 2017 the Congress of the Republic established that 167 municipalities in the country would host the 16 constituencies. Of these, 40 are in the Caribbean region, located specifically in the departments of Bolivar, Sucre, Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena, and Cordoba.

“In other words, the region would have four representatives for the CTEPs: one for C8 (Montes de María), one for C12 (Sierra Nevada, Perijá and Zona Bananera), one for C13 (Sur de Bolívar) and one for the C14 (South of Córdoba)” specifies the text, in which they indicate that these seats are transitory in nature (they would work for the periods 2022-2026 and 2026-2030) and would be added to the 166 seats that currently make up the House of Representatives.

The risks in the region

Trejos and Badillo highlight the benefits of these peace seats for the leaders of these hard-hit territories to achieve their representation in Congress, but they do not hide that there are serious risks to guaranteeing transparent participation, given the conditions of the municipalities: violence associated with the armed conflictillegal rents and patronage political dynamics.

In the Caribbean, these special zones are located in the Montes de Mariasouth of Bolívar, south of Córdoba, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Serranía del Perijá and the Banana Zone.

(You may be interested: They attacked an opossum that was taking care of its young in Medellín with machetes)

The researchers highlight the report of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM)which warns that of the 40 Caribbean municipalities that will participate in the CTEP elections, 25 have registered acts of political violence between 2016 (signing of the Agreement) and 2021.

Violence has not ceased in these territories

Among the main obstacles that threaten this process is “the violence that has not ceased in any of the subregions,” say the researchers.

In their analysis of the region, they detail that the expansion of the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), the presence of the Conqueror Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN) and the Eln, and the arrival of dissidents from the FARC-EP “they threaten to make these elections marked by violence and the impossibility of campaigning freely in rural territories,” they underline.

(Be sure to read: Unpublished photos of military practice in Cartagena with a nuclear submarine)

Another risk that surrounds the election of the representatives of these peace seats are the traditional parties, which could use these constituencies as ways to put their political allies.

Although the registered persons must prove their status as victims, this does not mean that they represent the interests of the victims of the armed conflict.

“Although the registered persons must prove their status as victims, this does not mean that they represent the interests of the victims. victims of the conflict armed or from their territories, so there is room for legality, but not legitimacy in the seats”, indicates the analysis of Trejos and Badillo.

Lastly, academics warn of the very large distance in several municipalities between the electoral census and the number of registered victims.

“This can give rise, again, to the fact that, due to the low number of votes, the local machinery moves to support a candidate who can easily win. The inexperience of social organizations in matters of electoral logistics and voter mobilization can also work against it. The scenario can become diffuse considering that they must compete with illegal groupspolitical elites and against themselves”, the report points out.

BARRANQUILLA

Read more news from Colombia here

Kitesurf World Cup begins on Atlantic beaches

The new prison that has its neighbors protesting in Barranquilla

One of the wounded in the armed strike attack by the Eln in San Gil died

Candidates for peace seats in Antioquia denounce having no guarantees - Medellín - Colombia

Without guarantees for the elections on March 13, This is how the candidates for the peace seats in Antioquia arewho, a month before being measured at the polls, have not been able to start campaigning because the National Government has not disbursed the resources, which adds to the lack of security in the territories due to the presence of armed groups.

Several entities have already warned about the risks of this electoral contest, the most recent was the Ombudsman’s Office, which indicated this Thursday that the candidates and communities of the South of Córdoba and Bajo Cauca Antioqueño and Chocó are at high risk due to the action of groups armed.

Although this electoral alert was for the entire national territory, due to the pressure exerted by the ELN, the FARC dissidents and the Clan del Golfomainly, was made from the municipality of Caucasia, one of the Antioquia territories that are included in the special transitory districts of peace.

Through these special transitional constituencies for peace (CTEP), the victims will have representation in the Congress of the Republic for the first time this year, so the elections will be held in the rural area of ​​prioritized municipalities in 16 groups.

Antioquia was included in four of the CTEPs. Section 3, which corresponds to the North, Northeast and Lower Cauca regions and covers 13 municipalities (Amalfi, Anorí, Briceño, Cáceres, Caucasia, El Bagre, Ituango, Nechí, Remedios, Segovia, Tarazá, Valdivia and Zaragoza); 6, which is made up of two Antioquia municipalities (Vigía del Fuerte and Murindó), sharing space with 12 from Chocó; section 13, which covers the municipality of Yondó (Antioquia) and shares space with six others in the department of Bolívar; and 16, which includes eight municipalities from Urabá Antioquia (Carepa, Chigorodó, Mutatá, Necoclí, San Pedro de Urabá, Apartadó and Turbo) and one from the West (Dabeiba).

Added to the alert from the Ombudsman in Bajo Cauca was that of the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), which indicated that 58% of the 167 municipalities of the Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Paz present some level of electoral risk, but more than the third part is concentrated in the Districts of Nariño-Cauca-Valle, Bajo Cauca and Chocó (38.1%).

According to the EOM, in terms of risk due to factors of violence and indicators of electoral fraud, in C3 Bajo Cauca, 9 of its municipalities are at extreme risk and 4 at high risk, which means that 100% of the municipalities in that district have worrying levels of risk.

In turn, in the two municipalities that are part of constituency number, the municipalities of Vigía del Fuerte and Murindó are one at high risk and the other at extreme. And of those in Urabá Antioquia, three municipalities are at high risk and one is at extreme risk.

In turn, Amalfi, Anorí and Segovia are the municipalities at greatest risk of electoral fraud, says the MOE.

“The EOM recommends that the electoral authorities, attorney general, prosecutor’s office and national police adopt the necessary measures to prevent and promptly investigate actions indicative of crimes or irregularities against the electoral process such as electoral transhumance, vote buying, or any other action that affects the electoral transparency”, said Alejandra Barrios, director of the MOE.

Difficulties in financing

These elections will take place in the rural areas of the 167 municipalities most affected by violence in Colombia. In these, 16 seats will be elected, among 403 candidates from social organizations, of victims, peasants and women, and of ethnic organizations.

In Antioquia, 68 candidates belonging to 34 organizations were registered, according to data from the Registrar’s Office, because it had to be done through a joint list (a man and a woman) with two candidates each. Of these organizations, seven are for victims, four are for peasants, there are three community councils, an indigenous reservation and a significant group of citizens, in addition to 18 social organizations.

Fernando Valencia, a professor at the University of Antioquia, explained that there are serious difficulties in this process, one of the points of the Peace Agreement for the victims to see themselves represented in Congress. The first, said the expert, was that these elections were put “by force” in the electoral calendar of the elections to Congress, which have been taking place for two years.

One of the main obstacles now is misinformation, since voters in rural areas do not recognize the mechanics of these votes, there is no pedagogy on the subject and there are large deficits of identity cards and voting stations.

“The social organizations that applied for candidacies have not been able to access state financing, because they were given a peremptory term, they did not have the information, they have not been able to access the conditions of the guarantee policies, which are quite demanding and quite expensive, and because social organizations do not have the administrative and accounting structure, neither financial nor legal, to support these requirements”, Valencia pointed out.

Víctor José Palacios Villa, candidate from the municipality of Necoclí, pointed out that precisely at this moment he has not been able to acquire the policy required by the National Government for the disbursement of resources, taking into account that financing by third parties is prohibited.

“That today the resources have not arrived from the Government is traumatic, because it is in the resolution, but they put some requirements on us, such as the issue of policies, and today in Urabá we have not been able to find an insurer that allows us to insure those resources. Today we, the victims’ candidates, are in limbo, I speak to you from my case, an organization of victims that has no assets and has no way of running campaigns,” Palacios said.

Social networks, meetings and messages have been the only tools until now, to campaign, but the situation is complex as they have to travel to rural areas and remote from the municipalities.

“I personally have not been able to advance, that is why I have been thinking of joining a colleague who is from here in Segovia, because the guarantees are none. We have no budget and we have nothing. This is the work of us, the victims’ leaders, there are so many obstacles that they put in our way”, said candidate Luz Aleida Herrera Castaño.

the machineries

According to teacher Valencia, what the law stipulates is that the only way to donate money to these campaigns is through a state fund, administered by the Registrar’s Office and the National Electoral Council, where the resources must be distributed equitably among the campaigns, although in practice this would not be the case.

Some leaders have denounced a display of propaganda, resources, meetings and events that are not being financed with state resources, so the authorities must put the magnifying glass on several things.

The first is that the candidates are indeed victims and that they meet the requirements of territorial and sectoral representation, an aspect that apparently is not being met in all cases, although these had to be certified by the Victims Unit. The second is the real financing of the campaigns and if there is a relationship with the traditional political parties, which is not allowed, and of course the security of the candidates.

meet the candidates

Victims Organizations

1. Corporation of Surviving Victims of the Conflict in Urabá Envisioning Peace – Comupaz

Candidates: Jhony Rufino Lozano and Inés Mestra Yanes

2. Association of Displaced Persons of Necoclí – Asodene

Candidates: Víctor José Palacios Villa and Herly Patricia Garcés Vidal

3. Association of Displaced Persons of the Municipality of Briceño

Candidates: Jhon Jairo González Agudelo and Martha Eliana Cardozo Díaz

4. Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights – Credhos

Candidates: Juan Pablo Méndez Zuluaga and Ángela Oriana Martínez Ojeda

5. Association of Displaced Persons and Women of Antioquia “Adma”

Candidates: Anaidalyt Delgado Lezama and Bairon Augusto Pérez Vélez

6. Environmental and Social Corporation Building Peace – Coapaz

Candidates: Manzur Agustín Sierra and Esther Cecilia Cabrera Pérez

7. Environmental and Social Corporation Building Peace – Coapaz

Candidates: Sandra Milena Puerta Buriticá and Manuel Tapias Montes

Social Organizations

8. Funvisoc

Candidates: Doris Patricia Carvajal Londoño and Germán Horacio Sucerquia Jaramillo

9. Strength and Will Therapeutic Community Foundation

Candidates: Jorge Arley Guisao Cifuentes and Paola Andrea Gutiérrez Rodríguez

10. Multiactive Social Cooperative Working Together – Coosocialtj

Candidates: Gabriel Antonio León Manco and Leydy Johana Castrillón Palencia

11. Foundation for the Comprehensive Development of Victims and Disabled Fundamasvida

Candidates: Ángela María Hernández Peña and Daniel Solano Hoyos

12. Green Hearts Corporation

Candidates: Roberto Arturo Mejía Vásquez and Lina Marcela Villegas López

13. Redesc Corporation

Candidates: Dibia Estela Escobar Mendoza and Hildemaro Cruz Borja

14. Association of Victims of Violence in Riosucio Clamores

Candidates: Diober Silvestre Blanco Agamez and Geanys Barba Padilla

15. Intercultural Association for the People and Forests of San Lucas – Asigeboslu

Candidates: María Margarita Palacio Pérez and Servio Nolasco Urzola Muñoz

16. Family and Friends Association of Chocó – Asfachocó

Candidates: Edwin Delgado Córdoba and Yajaira Salazar Córdoba

17. Segovia-Remedios Mining Board Association

Candidates: Yarley Erasmo Marín López and Liliana Patricia Peláez Gil

18. Mano de Dios New Dawn Committee of Displaced Persons Association (Asocodeman)

Candidates: Frank David Mejía Jiménez and Marledys del Carmen Ciprián Mejía

19. Shared Happiness Corporation

Candidates: Eusebio Palmera Berrío and Marley Moreno Córdoba

20. Guild Association of Heveiculturists of the Nechí River Basin – Asogrecan

Candidates: Generoso Segundo Barragán Martínez and Sandra Trujillo Salas

21. Turbo Harambe Afro-descendant Black Communities Social and Sports Corporation

Candidates: Gloria Elena Eljach Echavarría and Marlon Caro Úsuga

22. Corporation We Create Urabá – Corpocreamos

Candidates: Menderson Mosquera Quinto and Diana Marcela Hurtado Mosquera

23. Association of Agricultural Producers of the Vereda La Esperanza- Asproages

Candidates: Eduardo Enrique Páez Hernández and Madeny María Meneses Hoyos

24. Corpovigente Vision People Corporation

Candidates: Luis Guillermo Cardona Garzón and Luz Aleida Herrera Castaño

25. Diocesan Share Foundation

Candidates: Luis Eduardo Arvaez Villegas and Diana Tirado Hernandez

community councils

26. Community Council of the La Larga and Tumaradó Rivers

Candidates: Pablo Antonio López Moreno and Jaqueline Ospina Sepúlveda

27. Major Community Council of Nóvita “Cocoman”

Candidates: James Hermenegildo Mosquera Torres and Claudia Patricia Salas Perea

28. Middle Porce Community Council

Candidates: Jhon Jairo Robledo Palacio and María Cecilia Mosquera

peasant organizations

29. Peasant Association of Urabá Ascocamura Hope is Reborn

Candidates: Edier Esteban Manco Pineda and Alcira Blanquicet Navarro

30. Association of United Peasants of Caucasia- Asocamuc

Candidates: Ana Patricia Henao Arrieta and Manuel Eduardo Torres Herrera

31. Association of Canaleteras Futuristas for the Recovery of the Social Fabric and Peace- Growing Alongside the River

Candidates: Pablo Oved Moreno Espinosa and Luz Marina Jiménez Escobar

32. Association of Rubber Producers of the Vereda La Corcovada Municipality of Caucasia Asoccor

Candidates: Edith Margoth Navarro Arrieta and Róbinson Piedrahíta Henao

Indigenous reservation

33. Zenú El Volao Indigenous Reservation

Candidates: Sobeida González Márquez and Alberto Antonio Flórez Márquez

Significant group of citizens

34. I am Uraba

Candidates: Everto Arroyo Pérez and Karen Juliana López Salazar

Elections 2022: Those who seek to repeat seats in the Chamber for Antioquia - Medellín - Colombia

for the next congressional elections for the next quarter, Antioch It has 146 candidates for the House of Representatives distributed in 10 lists, these without counting the candidates of the Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Peace (Citrep).

Although there is renewal in the names on most lists, there are others who are already known and who are looking for repeat seat in the suffrages of next March 13.

The Democratic Center is the party with the most names seeking to repeat as House Representatives, something logical considering that it currently has more than a third of the seats in the department.

Of the seven Representatives of ‘uribismo’ in Congress for the House, five seek to repeat, these are: Óscar Darío Perez, Margarita María Restrepo, Jhon Jairo Berrio, John Jairo Bermúdez and Juan Fernando Espinal.

In the case of the first two, both are seeking their position in the House of Representatives for Antioquia for the third time in a row.

“I am looking to repeat the Chamber because when the father or mother gets sick, one stays to take care of them. And that happens with Medellin, the city is sick and needs all those people committed to the city to recover order, democracy and dignity,” Restrepo said.

(You may be interested: Candidates for Congress in Antioquia denounce vandalism on their fences)

The size of the Congress of the Republic must be reduced and the salary of high-ranking state officials must be frozen

For her, the experience of almost 8 years in this position taught her that this position is not one that gives power or recognition, but good management to improve people’s lives.

He added that he likes the point of balance between experience and renewal that the party list has, because “very different sectors participate, which is vital to form an interdisciplinary team.”

A similar opinion was expressed by Juan Espinal, who valued the participation of women, young people and people with experience in the list of the Democratic Center and assured that said list represents the interests of Antioquia.

“Once again I put my name to the consideration of all Antioquians to return to Congress because I believe that we have to insist on some issues that are essential to recover the confidence of Colombians in the institutions: we must reduce the size of the Congress of the Republic and freeze the salary of high-ranking state officials, hopefully it can be legally reduced said salary,” said Espinal.

(Also read: Women candidates for Congress from Antioquia seek to achieve more seats)

He added that, for him, it is essential to reform justice in the country, something that he considered an urgent need and that is why he seeks to return to Congress.

In the lists of the Democratic Center there is also a name of a former congressman who also wants to return to Congress, but with other colors.

This is Luis Horacio Gallón, who was already a Representative to the Chamber in the 2014-2018 period, but for the Conservative Party.

There is an expectation that the Democratic Center in Antioquia can have a vote like the one it had in past periods

For Professor Juan Carlos Arenas, director of the Institute of Political Studies of the University of Antioquia, both in the department and in the country, a reconfiguration process of names and integration of party lists.
However, he clarified, this is seen more in center-left parties.

“On the issue of the Democratic Center, there are many well-known names, although others chose to run for the Senate. There is not so much renewal thereWhat may be surprising is the expectation that this party in Antioquia can have a vote like the one it had in past periods. There is a window open to surprise”, expressed Arenas.

He pointed out that although many of those on the list do not have the level of recognition that other politicians who are not part of the House list have and who depend more on the strength of the party.

ALEXANDER MARKET
Correspondent of THE TIME
MEDELLIN

Elections 2022: Antioquia candidates seek to achieve more seats - Medellín - Colombia

Achieving more seats, greater political participation, is the objective of the women candidates for the Congress of the Republic, not only those from Antioquia, but those from all over Colombia, who hope that this year the number achieved in 2018 will be exceeded, lower than 2014 in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

According to UN Women, the participation of women in this important instance had been growing since 2006, when only 10.4% of elected congresswomen were women, until 2014, when they reached 20.9%. But in 2018, the curve stopped growing and the number of women there fell to just 19.7%: 21.3% in the Senate and 18.7% in the House of Representatives.

(You may be interested in: They ask for justice in the case of a young man who was tortured and murdered in Medellín)

In the 2018 electoral contest, of the 192 candidates for the Chamber for Antioquia, 71 were women, that is, 37%. The department obtained 17 seats, of which only three were women, that is, 17.6%. This taking into account that for the period 2018-2022, the departments of Antioquia and Valle, together with the district of Bogotá, were the constituencies with the most seats to be assigned, so they were in turn the territories that elected the largest number of women. (Antioquia 3, Bogotá 5 and Valle 3), according to UN Women.

In the case of Antioquia and in view of the elections for the House of Representatives on March 13, of the 146 candidates that make up the 10 registered lists, only 58 are women and of these, only the Green Party list has as head list a woman: Ana Carolina Arboleda.

In at least seven of them, the second on the lists are women, as they are in the Partido de la U, Mary Luz Muñuz; Radical Change Coalition – Free Fair Colombia – Mira, Adriana Maria Salas; Green Alliance Party, Margarita María Vanegas; Historical Pact, Susana Gómez (known as Susana Boreal); Conservative Party, Hilda Luz Jara Vélez; Comunes, Gloria Emilse Padierna and at the Esperanza Cecilia Estella Murillo Center.

(Also read: The talent of the Medellín silleteros traveled to Dubai)

David Alejandro Toro, head of the Historical Pact list for the Chamber, indicated that, in his case, the party created joint zipper-type lists. “We are the only coalition, political group, the pact, that compulsorily put that there be parity lists of zipper, that is to say that it ensures that half of the congressmen and women are women, before we thought that there would be a real participation and not subjective view of women,” he said.

A majority list of women to the Senate

In the opposite case, the political movement We Are Ready seeks to reach the Senate of the Republic with a closed list in which the majority are women (11 of the 16 candidates). The list is made up of women from departments such as Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Atlántico, San Andrés, Quindío, Caquetá, Antioquia and Santander.

The head of the list is Paisa Elizabeth Giraldo Giraldo, but she also has representation from women from three underrepresented departments, that is, from parts of the country that do not have representation in the Senate with legislative initiatives. Women from Afro, Black, Raizal or Palenquera communities and from the LB population (lesbians and bisexuals) are also part of it.

Although it emerged in Medellin and managed to reach this instance in the capital of Antioquia with a collective council headed by Dora Saldarriaga, it expanded its scope nationwide to achieve legal status, which is why its commitment is to the Senate and not to the Chamber. , as Giraldo explained.

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“We have the horizon of gaining legal status, to be able to give the country the first political party of feminist women. We do not start from the same elements as traditional politics, but we are ready for power, to govern. Colombia is full of women who can occupy these spaces of power, we need collective strength to achieve it, because through the traditional channels and parties it is not going to be, it is not being; time has already shown it, ”she said in dialogue with EL TIEMPO.

Although the quota law arose to guarantee greater participation of women, it also applies in this case, which is why 30% are men, which this movement calls allies for this legal requirement.

Missing guarantees?

Inés Elena Montoya González, professor of constitutional rights at the University of Medellín, explained that the quota law is a mechanism in itself that aims to achieve greater participation of women, admitting in itself a historical debt with this gender.

For the expert, the problem lies in the conviction of the citizen to give the vote to the candidates and of the political parties themselves to value and promote women in politics.

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“It is important because the norm intends to comply with and have an effective participation of the female gender in all branches of public power, but to what extent is it possible or feasible to comply with that 30% in the quotas, but at the moment of the exercise Constitutional is where the parties and movements comply with having candidates who aspire to meet that quota, but since it is the people who make the decision, they do not always have that power or that guarantee,” Montoya pointed out.

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