Cristian Acosta Olaya is a Colombian political scientist and professor of political theory at the National University of Austral Chaco, Argentina.
The commentariat has reached, almost in unison, for one word to explain Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella’s meteoric rise: populism. The label isn’t just inaccurate — it translates his elitist politics into antiestablishment complaint.
Colombian politics have long been dominated by strongmen insisting on the need for “tough security measures.” But right now, with strikes and demonstrations gripping the country, it’s Colombia's hard-right government overseeing atrocities — not the guerrilla insurgents.