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Home » Blogs » Laura Thies's blog

Antanas Mockus and the Colombian Elections

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Three days left to the presidential elections in Colombia. The outcome is supposedly quite critical for the country’s future and I am searching the German mainstream media for any updates.

Did I say "updates"? Well how about any information at all? Please. Please? I can find one article in Die Welt from May 9 about the presidential candidate for the green party – Antanas Mockus, and one from March 1 about President Alvaro Uribe, who couldn’t convince the Colombian Supreme Court to let him rule for a third term. The Frankfurter Allgemeine brought nothing at all. In the Sueddeutschen Zeitung, Mockus gets half a sentence in an article about world leaders using platforms like Twitter to support their campaigns. German radio and television have nothing to offer at all. The German mainstream barely knows  Juan Manuel Santos and knows absolutely nothing about the other candidates. Colombia is only in the German news if there is death through guerilla groups and drug trafficking actions. BBC, CNN, NY Times…also not much either.

If you are German with little love for blogs, no knowledge of the Spanish language, not the nerves to struggle through English, or simply no access to the Internet (like my grandparents and millions of others), you are at a loss. Who doesn’t know about the elections will never know, unless of course related events turn violent!

I wouldn’t know anything either hadn’t there been a last minute chance for a tiny detour to Bogotá, Colombia on my way from New York to Germany. During my time there I was very fortunate to get some personal views from young Bogotanos and to attend one of the rallies of the very newly formed green party with Antanas Mockus as its popular candidate.

Mr. Mockus fills the Colombian air with a fresh breeze of hope combined with a bit of fear for the unknown that comes along with the "a little bit crazy, Math and Philosophy teacher with sometimes hard-to-follow-thoughts, who became famous in the early 90s for mooning his students and saving Bogotá as its mayor (in a superman outfit) with outside-the-box-thinking-methods."

Below is a short video about the rally on May 16, 2010. I’m sharing these images to encourage you to find out more about the elections and to raise awareness about May 30, 2010, with the hope of helping Colombia a tiny bit towards a fairer, less corrupt election process with a "global village witness community" looking over its shoulder. Let’s spread the word in the little time we have left!

The Vagina MonologuesTake Back the Night 2010 in New York City
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Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 05/27/2010 - 08:35 #
- Coverage on AlJazeera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VGPrdlfd6w - The philosopher Jürgen Habermas, the economics Nobel Elinor Ostrom, and the professors Jon Elster, and Doris Sommer, among other intellectuals support Antanas Mockus: (in spanish): http://www.antanasmockus.com/SaladePrensa/tabid/69/ctl/ReadMockus/mid/456/ArticleId/13/Default.aspx - NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/world/americas/08colombia.html - Foreign Policy: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/04/the_post_uribe_president - The Economist: http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16015299 - Documentary on the changes in Bogota during his administration (subtitled): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyBe5-irc_4&feature=related
 
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 05/27/2010 - 15:17 #
Glad to see people outside of Colombia showing interest in our elections here. I maintain a blog on agrarian issues in and outside of Colombia, and I recently wrote a post (http://agrarianideas.blogspot.com/2010/05/agrarian-ideas-for-colombias-presidents.html) on the lack of agrarian proposals offered by most of the major presidential candidates. This is a grievous oversight in a country whose ongoing civil war is at root an agrarian conflict. While Antanas Mockus would indeed be a breath of fresh air if for nothing other than his profound respect for the law and civic responsibility, he and his coalition have little idea of what happens outside of the relatively well-off major cities of Colombia. If he gains the presidency, as seems likely, I think the country will benefit greatly from a new rejection of violence and illegal activities, but if he does nothing to address the profound inequalities in Colombia, we will remain a tense country with violence simmering just beneath the surface. Indeed, Mockus seems to subscribe to the same neoliberal, corporate-dominated model of society advocated by his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe. And while Bogota under Mockus's watch became cleaner, prettier, safer, and more civic-minded, the city's vast slums and wrenching poverty were not noticeably improved. Lastly, here's an AP article on the Colombian elections, though it only talks about Santos and Mockus, two of the six major candidates. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/05/27/world/AP-LT-Colombia-Elections.html?_r=1
 
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 06:58 #
So as you might now by now, the elections weren't too successful for Mr. Mockus but he gets a second chance to compete against Mr. Santos once again on June 20, 2010. Good Luck Colombia! Laura Thies
 
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 09:27 #
I think they were successful, it just depends how you look at it. It's a young party than in less than a year managed to gain the support of more than 3 million voters! With very little traditional political machinery or support. I think that is commendable in Colombia and almost anywhere in the world. While the chances of winning this election are slim, the real question lies in their capacity to remain strong in the long-term and build a political party that will have staying power. Congratulations to all of the people that support the Partido Verde and Antanas! (Lisa Guaqueta)
 

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A native of Germany, Laura has earned her BFA in Musical Theater, a Certificate in Screen Writing, a Certificate in 16mm Film Production, an MA in Media Studies, and an MA in International Affairs. She lives in New York City.

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