Saturday, May 24, 2014

Presidential Elections In Colombia

This coming Sunday (May 25th) Colombians will be going to the polls to elect their president and as is common during election time, there are a lot of preparations underway. Security has been heightened because as I have been told, there are guerrilla groups that may want to sabotage the elections with violence so vigilance has to be observed. There have been cases of bombings in public places. On Friday evening when I went for a walk to my favorite park near my neighborhood I noticed so many cops on the road and when I got to the park the cops were replaced by army guys. They were all over the place holding their rifles like they were ready for action, it was a bit intimidating.

In addition to security there are other precautions being put in place. I just learned that the day before elections sale of alcohol is banned and all bars & clubs are closed for business, this is to make sure that people go to the polls with sober minds and to avoid any drunken related incidences. This is all new to me as I have never heard of such laws so it's interesting to observe. Cali being a very lively noisy place full of music, it will be interesting to see how Sunday will be like. When I went out on Friday night the club was packed and I heard it's because that's the last night people can party until after elections.

There are five candidates running for presidency and the current president, Juan Manuel Santos is one of the five - he is the second guy on the left. If he wins this will be his second term in office.

Photo courtesy of wikipedia

As you can see in the picture above there are two female candidates running for office. I was having a conversation with one of Fernanda's cousins and she said that the women had no chance of winning because Colombia is a very Machista country that would never elect a woman as president. I haven't lived in Colombia long enough to experience the power dynamics between men and women so I can't really talk about the machismo in Colombia but Fernanda's cousin is not the only one who has told me this.

That's it folks, I hope the elections will go smoothly without any negative incidence and may the best person win.

Random Thoughts of The Day:

Colombians are required to take part in the preparation processes for elections, once selected to do so failure to participate results in a fine. Fernanda and her cousin were selected so they will be gone the whole day on Sunday.

Elections are always held on Sundays in Colombia.

Everyone I have asked thinks that Santos the current president will be re-elected, I am just relaying what I have heard so take this with a grain of salt.

It's scary when a taxi driver drops you off and warns you to watch out and be very careful in this city. It makes you wonder about the safety of the city and the possible dangers.

The policemen in Colombia look so harmless compared to the ones in Panama. Those guys in Panama were packing some serious heat and looked like they were ready for war.

I love the feeling I get when I am in the club having some drinks and getting slightly tipsy while listening and dancing to some good salsa music. I can only describe it as amazing!





1 comment:

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