Green Party plays a large role in long ‘shakeup’ of Colombian politics

A bit of an update on Antanas Mockus’ surprisingly successful run for the presidency of Colombia, which ultimately ended in defeat in a second round runoff.  From Colombia Reports:

What is happening now is therefore a national process political self-discovery. Until now, the country’s politics has been a hodge-podge of the ancient, almost tribal rivalry between the traditional Liberal and Conservative parties, the ideological debates of the Cold War era, and the more recent Uribe-era controversies. But with Uribe’s departure, Colombians have been forced to re-think their political identities. As evidenced by the potential alliance between Penalosa and Uribe and the rapprochement between Santos and the leftist opposition, prominent politicians are doing the same thing. In truth, few voters today have a clear sense of which politicians they support and which they oppose. One of the few things they know for sure is that they like Santos.

In this sense, the poor turnout at last weeks’ rallies is hardly surprising. The Green wave of 2010 was essentially a movement to bring Colombia’s government closer to its people and to shift part of the country’s focus away from personal vendettas and security issues. Today, even with an ostensibly Uribista president, the country is already moving in this direction. The Green movement is no longer the only one to turn to if you want more transparent government and more effective social policies. Similarly, everyone wants the FARC to go, or at least to stop kidnapping and release all of their hostages. The government is a strong defender of this position, the FARC remains frustratingly stubborn and there is little point in rallying just to reiterate the national consensus on the guerrillas.