holy shit, Green party candidate has a real shot in Colombia

[Enrique]

I wasn't even paying attention to this, I had this idea that Uribe was so popular that his successor would be a shoo-in.

http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINN2622230820100427

BOGOTA, April 26 (Reuters) - Independent candidate Antanas Mockus leads the race for Colombia's May presidential election with 38 percent of intended votes versus 29 percent for former defense minister Juan Manuel Santos, a poll said on Monday.

Mockus, a two-time Bogota mayor who is attracting votes with his campaign for clean government, has made a surprise jump in the race to succeed President Alvaro Uribe, a conservative U.S. ally popular for his tough line against rebels and his pro-business approach to investment.

Neither of the leading candidates has enough votes to win outright on May 30, but in a second round in June, Mockus would win 50 percent of the votes against 37 percent for Santos, according to the poll by Ipsos Napoleon Franco.

Candidates must secure more than 50 percent of the votes to win in the first round.

(...)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. It's reading things like this that renews one's hope for mankind:

"Polls show that Colombians are now more concerned with unemployment, poverty and economic development than with rebel violence."

So the TERRA TERRA TERRA card isn't omnipotent. Excellent.

[villager]

2. CIA coup planners must be getting busy, then...

n/t

[Enrique]

4. seriously

there are certain people who definitely don't want to "lose" Colombia. The question is whether they have the power that they once did to prevent it.

[Echo In Light]

6. Bingo

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Bravo! ¡Van los Verdes!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Holy FUCK, get this. The guy is a cross between Dennis Kucinich, Jon Stewart and Al Franken!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antanas_Mockus#Bogot.C3.A1_mayorship_and_presidential_bid

Bogotá mayorship and presidential bid

Under Mockus's leadership, Bogotá saw improvements such as: water usage dropped 40%, 7000 community security groups were formed and the homicide rate fell 70%, traffic fatalities dropped by over 50%, drinking water was provided to all homes (up from 79% in 1993), and sewerage was provided to 95% of homes (up from 71%). When he asked people to pay a voluntary extra 10% in taxes, over 60,000 people did so. His market-oriented social policies were much less successful. Poverty and unemployment levels were high throughout his tenures and continue to be a pressing issue in Bogotá's social life.

Famous initiatives included hiring 20 mimes to make fun of traffic violators, because he believed Colombians were more afraid of being ridiculed than fined. He also put in place one "Women's Night", on which the city's men were asked to stay home for an evening to look after the house and the children. The city sponsored free open-air concerts, bars offered women-only specials, Ciclovia and the city's women police were in charge of keeping the peace. His initiatives to reduce violence by engaging citizens in civil resistance against violence were as original as successful. He successfully combined showmanship, fiscal discipline and heavy reliance on punitive measures. Amassing political support mainly from Bogotá's middle and upper classes, he has been much less successful attracting voters in the national level. In the past Presidential elections in 2006 he won less than two hundred thousand votes, less than 5 percent of the votes.

In between his two terms as mayor, Mockus ran an unsuccessful 1998 bid for the presidency, first in his own name and later as Noemí Sanín Posada's running mate. In the meanwhile, Enrique Peñalosa replaced him as mayor. Peñalosa worked in a similarly way instituting popular new bike paths and bus systems. When Mockus ran again for the 2001 mayorship, he held a ceremony in a public fountain "to ask forgiveness for leaving the mayor's office in an unsuccessful bid for the presidency."

The impact of Mockus and Peñalosa on the development of Bogotá is described in a documentary film released in October 2009 with the title CITIES ON SPEED - Bogotá Change. It is promoted as being "the story of two charismatic mayors, Antanas Mockus and Enrique Peñalosa who, with unorthodox methods, in less than 10 years turned one of the world's most dangerous, violent and corrupt capitals into a peaceful model city populated by caring citizens. With Mockus and Peñalosa and key members of their staff as first hand witnesses, the film uncovers the ideas, philosophies and strategies that underlie the changes in Bogotá and which are now being exported to cities worldwide."

[Enrique]

8. can you imagine if he won?

the RWers here will freak out in a very amusing way! Widespread cranial detonation! Please, Colombian voters, make this happen.

[sabrina 1]

9. He sounds wonderful ~

I agree with the above comment re the CIA though. If it looks like he has a chance, I hope he's prepared for smear campaigns at best.

We'll see when the anti-Chavez OPs start posting negative OPs about him ~

[mdmc]

7. HOPE!

thanks for the info/op

[rabs]

10. Antanas Mockus Šivickas, the Green Tsunami

for those who are only now learning about Antanas Mockus Šivickas, over on the Latin American forum we have been discussing him for almost a month, since April 5.

DU link below has lot of information on his progress from longest of long shots to what now appears a presidential victory.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x33804

[AnArmyVeteran]

11. Go Green!

[Echo In Light]

12. Bump