The 2010 Elections: I'm almost ready to exchange my passport.

Above: Antanus Mockus

In 2008, I was addicted to news about the presidential elections in the United States, but I was equally depressed by the media. If you don't know me very well, it's probably time for me to confess something: I have some very strong political views. In the 2008 elections, I was horrified that a man straight out of the Chicago political machine with almost no real experience was so incredibly popular. I was horrified by the Republican party, too. I voted Green. Warren voted for Nader. We felt like political outcasts because we know voting for 3rd parties is more of a protest against current politics than an actual vote. For someone like me, who really wants to part of the political conversation, shouting about the Green party candidate and driving around with a bilingual bumper sticker on my car (Green Party/Partido Verde) made me feel like I was making a statement, but everyone just tuned me out and campaigned for Obama.

Politics in the U.S. are nasty and unfair. We are one of the few Western countries in the world with only 2 viable parties. Everybody else has at least one viable third party, except Australia, Spain, and Portugal. There's no way two parties who have been around for over a century represent what people want. The Democrats and Republicans only represent the big business and unions that give them the donations they need to silence other candidates during campaigns.

Why am I talking about politics on my blog while writing from Colombia?

Colombia has a presidential election this year. The first election is May 30, so we're getting really close and the race is starting to get exciting. However, the fact that this is an exciting election surprises everyone, especially Colombians.

First of all, the current president, President Uribe, was generally expected to win this election 5 months ago. When we first arrived, it was widely believed that he would be granted permission to run for a third term by the Colombian Supreme Court. Current law prohibits presidents from having a 3rd term, but that seemed like a small obstacle because in the 2006 elections Colombia changed a law that allowed presidents only 1 term so that Uribe could run for a 2nd term. On the 26th of February, the Colombian Supreme Court decided Uribe would not be granted permission to run for a 3rd term.

For "uribistas", this was disappointing, but they simply turned to Uribe's Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos. Santos, who originally was running as a place-holder candidate for Uribe in the Party of the U(ribe/Unity), expected little competition. No one in Colombia was excited about Santos, and the general attitude at first was that people were disappointed that Uribe would not run again.

Between February and April, a radical shift in politics has shaken Colombia awake. In August 2009, three former mayors of Bogotá rebuilt the Green Party in Colombia. The mayors, Penalosa, Mockus, and Garzon, were famous for totally changing Bogota into a clean and safer city. (For a fantastic documentary about this, check out my link below.) After a primary it was decided that Mockus would run for president this year. He has been campaigning for just over a month, but after choosing Sergio Fajardo, a former mayor of Medellin, he is consistently ranked at least 2nd in the polls. In fact, according to a poll on Thursday, he is winning.

Being in Colombia for this election is incredible. In just a few weeks, people have begun to see a different kind of future for Colombia. One without "politics as usual," which, in Colombia, means widespread corruption, widespread spying on civilians (wiretapping EU meetings? Just a daily occurrence at DAS, apparently), and, particularly horrifying, false positives. I hated it when Obama promised that his term would be different, because even if he succeeded at fulfilling every single proposal he has, any change in the way we do politics in the States was never part of his agenda. Mockus, however, is not just promising change. He has proven he has the ability to create change in his terms as mayor. (For example, check out this article about Bogotá, and how it beat out all American cities and came in third against Amsterdam and Copenhagen--for cyclists!)

More importantly, Mockus is not part of the standard political structure in Colombia. Santos' great-uncle was president. Mockus' mother is a sculptor from Lithuania. He has a PhD in mathematics, was a professor at Harvard, was the chancellor at Universidad Nacional, is a philosopher, and has Parkinson's disease (in its early stages). He speaks English, Spanish, French, and Lithuanian. He has a beard. This man is not your typical Colombian.

His previous policies as the mayor of Bogotá and chancellor of Universidad Nacional were controversial but effective. For example, he mooned an auditorium of rioting students because they would not let him speak. He hired mimes to humiliate people who broke traffic laws because fines were ineffective. He closed all the bars at 1 a.m. because of the city's crime rates. He called that law the Carrot Law--which, in American slang, would translate to the Goody-Goody Law. He continued Penalosa's work during his own second term, expanding the TransMilenio bus system that works like a metro and has been lauded by environmentalists worldwide. As mayor, he reduced the crime rate and murder rate, reduced traffic and automobile accidents, and attempted to give Bogota a moral conscience. He even dressed like a superhero (tights and all) and called himself "Super Citizen." Basically, Obama can only dream about being as cool as this guy.

His campaign should be making headlines worldwide. If he wins, he will be the first Green Party candidate to become president of any country, any where. In a world facing economic turmoil and
increasing environmental problems, his possible presidency seems like a sign of things to come. Especially in Colombia.

If I spoke better Spanish, I would be out on the streets, campaigning daily for Mockus. I want to vote for Mockus, I want to be part of this possibility. It is rare that I find a political candidate I can fully support. Mockus is a bit radical in his approach, but not in his ideas. His campaign slogan is this: "Con educación todo se puede" - With education, everything is possible. I love this man.

With the first election approaching quickly, Mockus has gone from being part of the "Three Stooges" to being the primary opponent to Santos. Because Colombia has two elections, this is especially significant. In the first election, on May 30, people vote for whomever they want. Since there are over 12 parties in Colombia, it is rare for a candidate to get over 50% of the vote in the first election. Therefore, Colombia holds a second election less than a month later, and only the top two candidates in the first election are allowed to run. This gives everyone a say in who the next president will be, twice. At this point, it seems very likely that the top two candidates will be Santos and Mockus. Of course, if one candidate can get 50%+1 vote, that candidate will win and a second election won't be necessary. Mockus recently suggested that if he wins the first election, the money saved from only needing one election could build 20 schools.

Like I said, I love this man.

For more information, check out all my links (Grandma, click on anything that is blue and it will lead you to a new webpage) or watch the documentary called Bogotá Cambio, which is available on YouTube. (I've embedded the first part of seven below.)



VOTE MOCKUS 2010!!!