VOTAR CON MIEDO | El Diagnóstico del ICP: Los grupos criminales ya no bloquean, cooptan

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:13]Prompters, how are you? Wednesday, May 20, 2026.

[00:00:19]Before getting into the subject, I'd like to share that a few years ago, Totola Monposina and I were on a radio program on RCN, one of those programs where they talk about cool things, culture, books, and music, and I'm rarely invited to them, but I wish they would invite me more often because they're programs that showcase positive things about Colombia. I loved Totola Momposina, I loved her, I loved her intelligence, her love for folklore, for Colombian music and her love for Colombia, in addition to an impressive simplicity, Totola Momposina. It was a very, very pleasant experience. I learned about their music. Colombians don't usually, or at least I don't usually pay much attention to that subject, and it was quite a lesson to talk and take this picture with Totola Monposina who left us yesterday, she went ahead of us, she was in Mexico, she passed away, understanding that she was 84 years old, 84 years giving her whole life and talent for Colombia. So, a fraternal greeting, wishing him to be by God's side at his right hand, and thanking Totola Momposina and his family for all he did for this country. That said, important things for the country. That said, let's return to the harsh reality.

[00:02:07]What are we talking about today in Colombia?

[00:02:11]Regarding the attack, the provocation that a group of people from the historical pact made yesterday against the house of former President Álvaro Uribe in Ríegro, Antioquia.

[00:02:28]Uh, it's part of the election campaign, an election campaign that has been growing in aggressiveness. We have already gone from insults and profanity to physical aggression at events programmed to provoke and seek riots and confrontations like what happened yesterday.

[00:02:58]to talk about alleged kidnapping attempts against an advisor, Mr. Alexander López, from the campaign of Iván Cepeda and his vice-presidential running mate in an area where they are in charge, uh, as if wanting to send signals that we are not actually with the candidate, but that we are also part of the opposition.

[00:03:27]Well, one thing that isn't very clear, but which led President Gustavo Petro to scold the Minister of Defense because he didn't protect the road where Mr. López was going to pass.

[00:03:41]Well, I don't remember hearing him scold the minister a few days ago when 22 civilians were killed in that same place 1 km away, the same ones who yesterday supposedly tried to kidnap the congressman of the historic pact. There were insults, threats against the candidates, and attacks on their campaign headquarters.

[00:04:08]Hm.

[00:04:09]assassination of their leaders in the regions. In short, a whole scheme of uncertainty, of fear in the face of the upcoming elections. It's hard to understand what the government is playing at, because on the one hand it says there will be fraud, that everything in the Registry is ready for fraud, as if trying to direct the attention of Colombians towards fraud, when the fraud is actually already happening in the streets, in the regions where all the candidates cannot do politics.

[00:05:01]Hey, they've been posting signs on social media that say, " No entry here for Uribistas, or those who are such and such." And in other regions, more or less the opposite happens. In some towns they don't allow Cepeda's caravans to enter, in others they don't allow the candidates from the other extreme to enter. In short, extremely complicated. And in the midst of all that, which after all are events that come and go, a very well done, very well researched, solid report appears from the Herná Chavarrío Loza Institute of Political Science, together with a foundation called Colombia 2050, and that's when one gets worried because it's going to be difficult to have legitimate elections. We're going to talk to Carlos Augusto Chacón, the director of the Institute of Political Science, so he can share the findings of his report with us, and we'll discuss what we're going to do about the elections on May 31st and then the second round, if there is one. Carlos, good morning.

[00:06:15]Ricardo, good morning to you and all the prompters of your program.

[00:06:20]We have a terrible delay and I can hear myself way in the background. Can you hear?

[00:06:27]Well, that's perfect. Tell us what the institute found in that investigation.

[00:06:36]Well, what we did was establish an electoral watch and we found that in some polling stations that coincide with places where there is a presence of criminal groups, we are talking about approximately 327,000 votes compromised in polling stations with atypical signs. By atypical signals he means that a single candidate in congressional elections received 90% of the votes. or that there were polling stations with a turnout higher than 90% or lower than 15%, that the difference between the first and second place was three or four times greater, that is, everything that is usually atypical in an electoral process for congressional elections. And when you look at those voting locations, almost 90% coincide with places that have either Ombudsman alerts or are places that are part of the electoral risk map of the Electoral Observation mission because there is a presence and control of criminal groups. So, in effect, what we sought was to identify how criminal groups were influencing people to vote in a certain way. And what we did was establish a monitoring system, deploy observers in 40 municipalities, more than 100 observers in 42 municipalities, who would tell us beforehand on election day what was happening, because our concern was that criminal groups are no longer interfering in the electoral process to obstruct it, that is, to plant a firecracker to force a polling station to move.

[00:08:14]That is no longer their priority. Their priority is to co-opt the electoral process.

[00:08:19]And what we are seeing in light of a framework that we have built at the institute, taking, let's say, a whole academic body of work on the subject, is that in the co-opted reconfiguration of the State, criminal groups seek to take advantage of electoral processes. That's why we deployed observers to document whether this hypothesis was fulfilled with a series of premises, among them that criminal groups do not necessarily commit acts of violence that are very visible or striking, such as homicide, to exert pressure on electoral issues, but rather different mechanisms, different repertoires of violence. Like what?

[00:08:54]Demanding electoral certificates under penalty of sanctions or fines, coercing voters with threats, prohibiting certain campaigns, as you just mentioned, from proselytizing, preventing the movement of certain campaigns in the territories, pressuring indigenous communities, sending WhatsApp messages limiting the advertising of certain campaigns in certain places, for example, in capital cities, in certain neighborhoods.

[00:09:24]In other places, extortion was documented against candidates who wanted to enter a neighborhood to campaign politically. So, what we are seeing is a systematic pattern of actions by criminal groups through repertoires of violence, some more visible than others, but all aimed at pressuring communities, pressuring the civilian population to vote in a certain way. Notice a finding that is quite relevant.

[00:09:55]In at least 103 polling stations, the blank or null vote atypically won. In other words, the groups weren't necessarily pressuring people to vote for a candidate, but rather to cast a blank ballot. And this is relevant because, in presidential elections, when you talk about 327,000 votes in a potential electorate of almost half a million, this is how atypical it was. Note that we may be talking about elections that were not so atypical, but were carried out in a context of pressure from criminal groups. In other words, we could be talking about a larger phenomenon. What we did was choose a vector to analyze, and that tells us that between 327,000 and almost 500,000, that makes the difference in a presidential election. Ricardo, remember that the current president won by 700,000 votes. We're talking about a very close competition where 300,000 to 500,000 votes make the difference between the winner or, in the first round, for example, who makes the difference in the second round. That's very relevant, but it could also be that criminal groups are pressuring people who are genuinely tired of the presence of these groups and are being threatened and subjugated by them to vote for a certain political party in order to avoid attracting the attention of subsequent investigations. What they might be doing is forcing them to cast blank ballots or to abstain from voting altogether because we've identified polling stations with a turnout of less than 15%, so that security is deployed in those areas. And the social programs are useless; they should go to Unicentro or El Poblado, not there. We need them to go to those municipalities, but not only on May 31st, weeks before, because the other thing we found that is very relevant is, I insist, that armed pressure is not carried out on election Sunday. They do it days in advance. Meetings, for example, of community action boards force them to meet, they compel contractors to meet and set a meeting point for them. In short, what we are already seeing these days after those congressional elections is the issuance of ID cards to people to track their movement and determine which places they can or cannot enter, the use of drones, for example, at polling stations in schools, almost as if sending them a signal. That's why I tell you that there are signs that are not so obvious. Putting drones over polling stations is almost like sending a signal to the civilian population that we are watching them and we know who is going to the polls. All those mechanisms are pressure mechanisms, and that is undeniable. So, with this report, what's clear is that we can't romanticize or downplay this by saying these are isolated incidents, that it only happened in a few places, right?

[00:12:40]This could be a massive problem, and we're not just talking about locations in remote rural areas; we're even talking about neighborhoods in municipalities and capital cities where criminal groups have a presence.

[00:12:55]First, let me tell people who may be thinking, "But 300,000 votes isn't a lot." As Carlos explains, it could be the difference between being president or not. If you look at the polls, the differences are very small, and 300,000 votes are important, and all votes should have the same legitimacy and transparency.

[00:13:21]So, the question is, Carlos, who is responsible for preventing that from happening to the national government? Because the government has the obligation to guarantee security conditions throughout the territory.

[00:13:36]Unfortunately, the accelerated deterioration of security conditions, which was already happening before this government, yes, that's true, but it worsened under this government, and so today we have dynamics resulting from government inaction, the deterioration of capabilities, and the incentives created within the framework of total peace, which allow groups to feel capable of carrying out these types of actions in the territories, and there is greater fear of the presence of the public forces, of the actions of the public forces. What is needed here is an immediate deployment plan to those territories that are most at risk of a lack of coordination that has not occurred during these 3 years between the national government and the mayors and local leaders, who are also the primary authorities denouncing the situation. Look, we gave the example of Baudó, and yesterday a media outlet called Mayor Baudó, and he said, "Yes, that's true.

[00:14:26]We have all those risks here." In other words, what the institute is reporting is indeed what we are experiencing, and we need help. Because? Because you know that mayors of category 6 municipalities do not have the resources or the capacity to fully guarantee security conditions. Therefore, the first authority called upon to do this is the national government, which must not only deploy the public force to guarantee security conditions, but also equip state agencies so that investigations can be accelerated and those responsible for all these events can be brought to justice. And of course, it is also up to civil society, Ricardo, to denounce and make a call that we have insistently made to the electoral observation missions regarding an issue that you have touched upon, legitimacy.

[00:15:08]The legitimacy of the results in some territories is at stake here. And look at what's happening in the world today, a key issue that has been important to us, and that's why we've contacted members of the US Congress and White House officials. We have sent you not only this report, which is the result, but we have also been doing so since January when we began the entire electoral oversight process, warning that there may be people here receiving support from criminal groups that are now considered a threat to the national security of the United States. Because if the authorities here don't speed up the investigations, we are waiting for other countries to conduct those investigations and assign responsibility.

[00:15:48]We are 10 days away from the elections. Is there still time to fix that, or are we already going to leave like this? No, I think there is time. That's why we wanted to put so much pressure on them starting yesterday, because we believe that if there's a deployment of public forces, if observation missions are deployed, there's a way to deter the groups, and above all, what we're also seeing is that the campaigns are already coming out asking that no criminal group ask people to vote for them, because they're aware that at the end of the day, in the long run, that's going to impact them. The problem is that a campaign that receives support from criminal groups, and this is documented and later proven in court, will have repercussions.

[00:16:27]I am not saying anything, and we have been very careful not to point to candidates or campaigns; that is the responsibility of the authorities. That is why we have sent the National Electoral Council all the data from the statistical analysis we did, the testimonies, we have given them everything, because here there may be, and it must be understood, some phenomena associated with the fact that the criminal group is acting on its own based on the political model that it feels works for its criminal expansion. That doesn't mean there's an organic link between a campaign and the criminal group, but the criminal group sees that there are incentives it doesn't want to lose and feels that there's a political project that can give continuity to those incentives so that it can continue expanding. So, he's acting on his own, of course, but the problem is that he's undermining legitimacy, he's putting the legitimacy of the electoral process at risk in the lead-up to the presidential elections, and that has consequences. I insist, considering that today in the United States these criminal groups, the FAR dissidents, the Gulf Cartel, are considered a threat to the national security of that country. And then when you start a judicial investigation and establish the routes and the links, you will find that if a criminal group supports a politician, it is understood that there is a political link between the group and that person, that this is not new, this is happening in Mexico, in Brazil. Mexico is a great example of that. That is why the United States is requesting the extradition of governors, senators, and high-level government officials. Because? Because it's clear that whoever receives direct or indirect support from criminal groups is, directly or indirectly, part of those structures.

[00:18:03]So, where would you say the critical sites are?

[00:18:07]Look, there are 15 departments. Cauca, Nariño, 15 departments. Yes, there are at least 15 departments. half the country.

[00:18:16]Yes. And remember, Ricardo, that the MOE has already increased the number of municipalities at electoral risk; there are now 386.

[00:18:27]We will have observers in 117 municipalities.

[00:18:32]Uh, we're going to have more than 200 drinkers.

[00:18:35]Our drinking exercise has already begun; it is currently underway.

[00:18:39]The drinkers are already being trained, focus groups are being held to listen to what they are seeing, because I insist, the added value of this exercise is not arriving on election day, because on election day nothing may be seen, because people already come conditioned, they come, vote and go home scared and hand over the proof that they voted for someone. So, we are talking about Cauca, Nariño, Guajira, Chocó, Baupez, Vichada, Norte de Santander, Sucre, Casanare, Amazonas, Putumayo, La Guajira, among others.

[00:19:10]And is there any preference, or lack thereof, but rather relevance of an armed group, or are they all mixed up and that's from all sides?

[00:19:21]Yes, that's evident from everywhere. Obviously, the fact that a group has a presence does not necessarily mean that it has control. That's important. There are groups that, for some reason, have a presence; they are in the middle of a dispute process. That means he doesn't necessarily have control. There are groups that are indeed consolidated and in control.

[00:19:42]To explain it this way, we have adopted a concept that is the concept of a security researcher, Trejos, who defines what we are in as almost a mafia-like peace, right? In a peace where criminal groups are somehow regulating the levels of violence in the territories. So that? so as not to attract the attention of the authorities. That's why one cannot measure the security situation solely by homicides, but by other criminal phenomena, other repertoires, extortion, confinement, recruitment, and so on. When you look at that, you find that there are two phenomena. A phenomenon of criminal governance, which is where the population already coexists with the criminal group, because the group has already managed to replace the State, and the authority is now exercised by the criminal group. Let's not say they are completely legitimate, but the community has somehow gotten used to it.

[00:20:33]But the other phenomenon is that of criminal subjugation, which is the group that is entering or beginning to assume that territorial control. So, there are territories where criminal subjugation practices are indeed taking place, that is, using violence, threats, and strong pressure, and there are others where, as a result of governance, the groups are experiencing interference.

[00:20:52]There are things that can be observed, there are things that are very difficult to observe, but the truth is that given the growth of criminal groups, their strengthening of capabilities and the fact that they have expanded their territorial presence, one is noticing, let's say, the data, what the alerts of the ombudsman, the risk map of the MOE and our study demonstrate, what they show is that criminal groups are indeed putting pressure on the civilian population.

[00:21:17]Now, the report also refers to a phenomenon that is political, but not violent, which is the buying of votes.

[00:21:27]They found that this is happening too, right?

[00:21:34]Yes. And that one, and that one, you know, we received a lot of reports about it on election day. That phenomenon was the one that most affected us, that is, more than on election day, reporting armed pressure, beyond some cases that are specified in the report, many observers did not because we had a command and control center and in real time they were reporting to us that they saw vote buying, that they saw people offering votes, that they saw the case in some places where the so-called refreshment of 500,000 pesos per vote was offered, where people arrived with the sample of who they had voted for.

[00:22:06]Of course, the observers, for security reasons in many cases, because we have a protocol and we ask them not to interfere. That's up to the authorities, but they should document what was happening.

[00:22:16]Vote buying is a big problem. And I think about this. On election day, March 8, 4 billion pesos were confiscated. That is, on that day the police arrested people with cash that was allegedly intended for buying votes. If 4 billion was confiscated, Ricardo, how much could have been moved without being confiscated?

[00:22:40]Second, the money from vote buying in congressional elections is usually, it has normally been observed that it is usually more, that is, there is more money for vote buying in congressional elections than in presidential elections, but one thing does not negate the other. Second, that vote-buying can come from two sources, from corruption, right? The contractors, those who survive by extracting rents from the State from the public treasury and use part of those resources to buy votes. And two of the criminal groups that have the resources available to buy votes. The big challenge here is how it's possible for people to move 500 million pesos in cash, right? And that it's not easy to establish early warning parameters for traces through the UIAF and the financial system to start identifying where there are atypical cash movements in those municipalities, because it's likely that someone will take out 100 million to buy a car, I don't know, right? Here are some dynamics that should be observed today as a result of financial intelligence.

[00:23:52]Unfortunately, it is public knowledge that we have suffered a deterioration in intelligence capabilities and the public force, which leads us to be at very high levels of vulnerability and risk.

[00:24:07]Well, let's hope the government does its job, the military does its job, and the registrar's office does its job. But how can we, as citizens, help?

[00:24:20]denouncing. Here it is very important, Ricardo, to report everything that is seen, everything must be reported. In the case of the institute, we can receive, well, whatever you consider to be very relevant.

[00:24:30]We are documenting all of this because what we want is for this to be a complete record of the evidence.

[00:24:36]Secondly, Ricardo, let the citizens vote. Look, think about this.

[00:24:41]Colombians who sell their vote and Colombians who vote under armed pressure. People in territories who surely want to vote for a political option that frees them from the pressure of criminal groups will vote under pressure, or they will be forced to abstain, not vote, or vote in another way. On behalf of those people, we have to go out and vote. We cannot be apathetic and say, "One vote doesn't make a difference." Think about this. If one vote doesn't make a difference, why are some people willing to pay between 300 and 500,000 pesos for a vote? Votes do make a difference. And the big invitation we're also making from the institute is to participate, don't let those who buy votes and those who force people to vote make the political decisions for the country.

[00:25:24]That's how it is. Thank you, Carlos.

[00:25:27]Thank you, Ricardo.

[00:25:28]Very kind. Good day.

[00:25:29]A hug.

[00:25:31]Bye.

[00:25:33]I think the message is the one Carlos says at the end of the conversation.

[00:25:40]The best way to counteract that illegal activity, that pressure, that coercion of people in the regions to vote one way or another, is to compensate for it in the cities where we can relatively freely vote, participate more massively, and try to counteract those votes. And yes, one vote makes a difference. Now that the polls are coming, from tomorrow or Friday until Sunday, the avalanche of pre-election polls will arrive, you will realize how small the differences are between some candidates and others. And that's where you understand the value of a vote, and you have to go out, you have to vote, you have to participate, and you can't let others decide for you. If we stay at home, in the end we are telling the one who buys votes, the one who pressures votes, that he can decide for us. And we already know what happens when we let others make the decisions.

[00:26:57][music] Well, uh, what happened with Yulixa Tolosa teaches us a lesson.

[00:27:09]Who is Yuliaxa Tolosa? I don't know if you know, if you don't know, I'll tell you. She is a 50-year-old woman who had cosmetic surgery in a back-alley clinic or a pirate clinic in the Venecia neighborhood of Bogotá.

[00:27:27]a surgery that went wrong and ended with a terrifying, chilling criminal plan.

[00:27:41]The surgical intervention fails, the lady gets sick and leaves recording herself.

[00:27:48]Her family members realize what's happening, try to rescue her, but become careless and leave her alone.

[00:27:56]And when they return, it's gone, the clinic is gone, the surgeon is gone, the nurses are gone, everyone has disappeared, and from there a search begins that ends with several discoveries.

[00:28:10]The first was that the clinic was a pirate operation, that it did not have permission to operate, that it was managed by Venezuelans with no experience in that field, an organization that had already been sanctioned in Bogotá, in other areas of the city, by the Health Secretariat for providing that type of service without permission, but it was still operating.

[00:28:40]Well, the clinic disappears; they're dismantled just as quickly as they're set up.

[00:28:46]Another woman appears who, thank God, is saved because they left her lying there instead of taking her away, but Yurixa is taken away in a car. Her body, her corpse, appeared yesterday in Apulo, Cundinamarca. That's near the Magdalena River.

[00:29:04]And those responsible were captured in Venezuela.

[00:29:08]in two different states, the alleged owner of the clinic, the alleged surgeon and the husband of the alleged owner of the clinic.

[00:29:20]Well, surely there will be justice here, we'll have to see if the Venezuelan government, the Venezuelan justice system, agrees to send those Venezuelan citizens to be tried in Colombia for this atrocious crime they committed.

[00:29:36]But beyond that, whether or not there is justice—and I hope there is—I think the lesson this case teaches us is that one should be more careful about the places one goes to for these kinds of procedures.

[00:29:55]Well, I think we citizens should be more demanding, more discerning, and more careful about the place we choose. Sometimes, trying to save a little money ends up costing us more. Someone had told me that a plastic surgeon charges 25 million pesos for that type of procedure. Of course, that is not within everyone's reach due to rulings by the Constitutional Court and decisions by the CPSs.

[00:30:32]Uh, that can't be provided through CPS or the mandatory health plan where the State pays the bill.

[00:30:42]So, people desperate for whatever reason—health, vanity, advice from friends, etc.— go to these pirate sites, and the consequences can be these: losing their lives, being mistreated like this lady, because they mistreated her, didn't take care of her, and finally they make her disappear, kill her, and leave her lying somewhere. I think the choice is that: more care, make sure they have licenses, that they have experience, that the doctors they're talking about are actually doctors. The guy who did the operation—it's best not to talk about that—but I think that's the lesson, and we should all be aware of the care we need to take when we agree to these kinds of operations.

[00:31:39]Well, what else do I have to tell you here? Today, the Colombian ambassador was just expelled from Bolivia.

[00:31:51]The Bolivian government rightly expelled her and declared her persona non grata. Because from Bogotá, President Gustavo Petro, who defends the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries, decided to interfere in the internal problems of Bolivia.

[00:32:15]In Bolivia there is a very complicated situation which is a front-line style uprising against the new government of Bolivia, which is a right-wing government.

[00:32:28]Behind the uprising is Evo Morales, the former leftist president, and rumors in Bolivian and international media say that there are Colombians belonging to the front line, experts in what they called here the social uprising, advising the uprising in Bolivia and that this has the support of the Colombian government and the historical pact.

[00:32:58]Petro's interference in Bolivia's internal affairs led the Bolivian government to expel the ambassador this morning, which is the first step towards breaking off diplomatic relations. We need to be vigilant. It would seem that who cares about having diplomatic relations with Bolivia, one might say, there is no trade there, we have nothing to do with the Bolivians. I think it would be extremely frustrating if we also broke off relations with Bolivia.

[00:33:30]We have no relations with Ecuador; they are entangled with Israel and with everyone else.

[00:33:36]The president is picking fights by meddling in things that are not his responsibility. He claims to defend the autonomy of countries, national sovereignty, and to not accept foreign interference in Colombia's internal affairs, yet he is happy to meddle in other matters, something he shouldn't be doing. And Bolivia, however poor or small it may be, is a country with which we must maintain good relations.

[00:34:25]Hey, congratulations to Tamara de la Mota, fellow journalist, who was elected as the new president of the CP. There's a gang there, but that's another story. There goes the CPB with its thugs, thugs that journalists have been doing for years, the same thing we criticize others for.

[00:34:54]That's just how we are.

[00:34:56]Well, what else do I have here? I'm going to post the conclusions of a conference we had this morning with BTG Actual about the Colombian economy in my notebook later.

[00:35:10]Things don't look good, but Munir Jalil said several important things at the conference, including that interest rates and inflation will continue to rise not only in Colombia, but worldwide as a result. about what is happening in the Gulf, the crisis between the United States, Iran, Israel, etc. So, it seems that we will have high inflation worldwide until 2027. Colombia, of course, is caught up in the mess and has high interest rates.

[00:35:48]The other thing he says is that the Bank of the Republic is under scrutiny from the international community, especially from risk rating agencies, regarding its independence. That incident where the minister leaves the board and says he won't return, the reconciliation where they make a unanimous decision to keep interest rates stable, is being seen from the outside, not as we see it, but as if the independence of the Bank of the Republic was lost.

[00:36:24]What Munir explains is that the government, the finance minister, and the bank's co-directors are trying to keep the Central Bank out of the political and electoral debate and postpone their decisions until July.

[00:36:43]Here we see it, I repeat, in a positive light because we think that enough is enough with the fighting and that it's great that territories are respected, but it so happens that outside they are seeing it as a rupture or the end of the independence of the Bank of the Republic. And that has consequences, consequences that could be extremely costly for the future of the Colombian economy. They can lower our rating. When the rating drops, we already know everything that's going on.

[00:37:13]Investment is dwindling, interest rates are rising, nobody is lending to Colombia, and we're being taken out of the good countries and put in the bad countries, where you shouldn't invest, where you shouldn't do business, where blah blah blah, with all the consequences that entails.

[00:37:31]So, pay attention to that detail. And the other thing that the BTG Pactual report says, which I repeat I will give you later in summary, there are some spectacular slides, is that the government is cheating with the national budget.

[00:37:50]They included the figure of 55 trillion pesos as the approved budget for this year, as if they had the money, even though that is not the case. That budget was cut by Congress by 20 or 25 billion and the government is acting as if that's not true. That is a violation of the budget law that has political, legal, judicial and of course economic consequences.

[00:38:27]Pay attention to detail.

[00:38:31][music] And on the subject of energy, yesterday I was telling you that the government already admits that there will be energy rationing, that the government already admits that, like other governments, the cost of the price of a kilowatt-hour increased by 300 pesos in a month.

[00:39:01]And that there are gas problems, fuel problems, and power generation problems.

[00:39:09]Well, since that circular to the Minister of Mines and Energy was leaked to several media outlets, including Libreta de Notas, the government rushed yesterday to issue a statement saying that they had already taken measures to avoid energy rationing.

[00:39:26]When you look at the measures in detail, you realize that it's all just talk, that they are CREC resolutions, draft CREC resolutions that do try to solve the problems that Milcar Acosta and other experts on the subject point out, but that at the end of the day they don't solve anything. First, because they are only statements of good intentions, they are drafts for consultation, uh decisions that take months to implement if the commission takes over energy regulation, is capable of making the decisions. Let's suppose he takes them. Bringing that to a successful conclusion takes months or years in some cases. So, just so you don't fall for the story that the government is going to avoid energy rationing. Rather, let's prepare ourselves and start saving water and energy. May the devil not leave us thirsty and in darkness.

[00:40:34][music] Hey, if you live in Bogotá, if you live in Chapinero or have to pass through there, I recommend that you go early, before 3, I would say, and after 9 in the afternoon, because the tiger, Mr. Abelardo de la Sprieella, is going to hold a rally at 5 in the afternoon in the Plaza de Lourdes.

[00:41:10]Enrique Gómez, one of the campaign promoters, sent me the notice that they themselves christened the stage in Lourdes Park. I think saying "tarimazo" is pejorative, but oh well, it's up to them what they call their events. The thing is that Lourdes Square is more or less... well, not as big as Bolívar Square, but it is big. And the problem is that it's located in the middle of a very busy area, where there's construction going on these days with the metro project, so traffic in Chapinero is going to be a disaster this afternoon, right? There's no way there's going to be riots. It's simply that the plaza is sure to get crowded, and when plazas are crowded there are buses on the sides, badly parked cars, and lots of onlookers, slow traffic, so there wo n't be easy mobility this afternoon at 5 in the Chapinero area. For those who live in Bogotá and don't know what I'm talking about, that's between 63rd and 64th Streets, between 10th Avenue and 13th Avenue. It's best to avoid going there. Try to take the ring road if you can, or 30th Street, because Caracas Avenue, 13th Street and Seventh Avenue are going to be unbearable. They call that the price of democracy.

[00:42:54][music] [music] Let's see what the listeners say. Fanny León says, "Don Ricardo, the National Electoral Council (CNL) has already muzzled the polling firm Atlas Intel, so we're only going to have polls that favor Cepeda.

[00:43:17]You're right to be worried, but let's look at the case because it's different. The first thing to say, and you may be right about this in the last part of your comment, is that the decision is made by a magistrate named Fabiola Márquez.

[00:43:40]This magistrate is on the National Electoral Council representing the historical pact. They're not telling us this publicly, but it's better to have the information to understand what's happening. That's one thing. And on the other hand, Atlas Intel is a very controversial polling firm. The controversies surrounding Atlas Intel began during the Democratic Center's primary.

[00:44:12]Remember that Miguel Uribe's father questioned Atlas Intel, and his coordinator, his political advisor at the time, said that the polling firm was going to rig the election, that it was going to allow María Fernanda Cabal to win, and Mr. Uribe discredited it.

[00:44:39]Londoño discredits the polling firm, the Brazilian polling firm, uh, sees the danger of its reputation being jeopardized and withdraws from the Democratic Center's primary. Then they do it with other Chilean polling firms, I understand.

[00:45:00]That was the first warning to Atlas Intel.

[00:45:05]After that came calls from the Electoral Council regarding errors supposedly committed by the polling firm during the electoral campaign. Uh, and here's another important detail. Who pays Atlas Intel?

[00:45:24]Semana magazine pays them, uh, the Gelinski family pays them, more precisely Mr. Gabriel Gelinski, who is the owner, the president, the one who runs Semana, and uh, it's being talked about everywhere, it's no secret that I'm saying this.

[00:45:45]Uh, Semana magazine is openly supportive of Abelardo de la Espriella. It's had about three covers attacking Paloma Valencia, uh, and defending the interests of Mr. Abelardo de la Espriella. That means the magazine no longer has the objectivity it should. The impartiality that should exist is, of course, that's where the pollster is taken for granted, and that serves as the magistrate's excuse, I repeat, for the historic pact to block the poll.

[00:46:21]Beyond whether the magistrate is right or wrong, whether the pollster was wrong or not, what is wrong, very wrong, is censoring the publication of the poll.

[00:46:36]Nowhere in the law, as far as I've read and understood, does it say that the publication of a poll can be suspended. That's censorship.

[00:46:47]That's called prior censorship, censorship of communication, censorship of the press. That violates the Constitution; it's an attack on freedom of expression, regardless, I repeat, of how questionable the actions of the person paying for the poll and the pollster might be.

[00:47:06]Regardless of that, what the National Electoral Council (CNE) or any entity in Colombia cannot do is censor publications.

[00:47:15]In Colombia there is freedom of the press, in Colombia there is freedom of expression. In Colombia there is freedom of opinion, so Semana magazine, Mr. Guilinski, the candidate from Spriella, and their pollsters have every right to publish whatever they want.

[00:47:36]If They tell lies, if they are manipulating, that is a sanction that must be applied later. In Colombia there is no censorship. And what the magistrate is doing here, I repeat, from the historical pact, is exercising the power of censor that the Constitution and the law do not allow her, not even the new polling law.

[00:48:03][music] Carlos says, Carlos 9438, the new polling system favors the left because left-leaning territories have more participation.

[00:48:20]Therefore, my reading is that if ADLE doesn't win, if it doesn't win in the first round, it will come very close. Never again the left. Rafael Acosta, human stupidity is extreme. We save by risking our lives or we spend on trivialities just to put on a show.

[00:48:42]Oh, that thing about spending on the current BTGP report on the Colombian economy that I was sharing with you, uh, they talk about something that I found very interesting.

[00:48:56]They say that despite all the problems the Colombian economy is having, the two downgrades in a standard year for such and such, the Colombians continue to spend like crazy.

[00:49:10]And he says that's because of the cocaine boom and the gold boom.

[00:49:17]Uh, President Gustavo Petro spoke about gold, saying that Colombia has lost 18 billion dollars in illegal gold exports.

[00:49:29]And over the weekend, the French newspaper Lemont said that the Colombian economy—excuse me, that Colombian cocaine production has once again become the largest in the world, that Colombia is the world's largest exporter of cocaine, which explains why we're spending like crazy, consuming—they say we're buying cars, appliances, luxury goods, and all that—in a world that seems worried because interest rates are sky-high. In Colombia, we spend like crazy. Well, that could be it. The 28 billion dollars of gold exported illegally or smuggled. And what Lemont says is the cost of the cocaine that Colombia is selling by the ton abroad.

[00:50:25]Fabiola giving her opinion. He says, "The lesson is a very poorly educated Colombia with no formal education, zero respect for life."

[00:50:35]We continue with the fact that it was cheap and others did well, without national or local control authorities.

[00:50:45]Rafael Cárdenas, may he rest in peace in the tomb of Totola Monposina.

[00:50:51]Hey, Carlos from A point 9438.

[00:50:56]Excellent.

[00:50:59]Rafael Cárdenas, good morning, prompters. I hadn't seen him live in a while. I've had a lot of difficulties being live. I was telling you, I don't know if Rafa heard me, I'm in the peak season for medical exams. Wow, what a messed up thing. They make some for me, I take them to the doctor and they prescribe others, and the feeling is, oh man, I'm dying. And when I tell them, 'I'm dying,' no, man, it's just that we're looking here, looking there, that those are tests that have to be done, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, more exams tomorrow.

[00:51:39]Tomorrow 7 is at 9, so getting there by 10 is going to be difficult. We'll see.

[00:51:45]Eh, Milena Guzmán says, "That, what could that be? It's a fabrication by that warmonger Cepeda because everything that has happened has his own stamp." And now Petro congratulates those who paint Mr. Uribe's house and justifies it as art. And Uribe says his house is private property, and Petro says it isn't.

[00:52:08]That person is very unhappy. There's an interesting discussion there. I'm going to have to find you a lawyer friend because the president says that the facade of houses is public property.

[00:52:27]As if to say that if I own a house and that house has a facade on a street, anyone can come and paint whatever they want on the facade of my house.

[00:52:39]Hmm.

[00:52:41]I'm not entirely convinced that's the case, but we should consult a lawyer, just in case it's true, okay? And if that's the case, it's terrible. Now, if that person, if that's true, I thought, if it's true that the facade of my house is public and some guy comes and paints something easy, like the Santa Fe shield on my house, I can erase it and put the Millonarios one on. I mean, I don't have to put up with them changing the color of my house or painting it with a message I don't want to receive, I don't know, but the issue is delicate. What is serious here is the provocation by the congressman-elect of the historical pact in Antioquia, who took a lot of people, vandalized a bridge, and put political pressure on a housewife, Doña Lina. who was at home. Uh, that aggression must be condemned from every point of view. That's hardly a respectable political event, is it? That was an attack, that was a provocation.

[00:53:56]And if someone comes to my house to insult me, well, I'll react too.

[00:54:01]What I do? I have no idea. The time will come when, if that happens, one will resolve it, but they can't tell me that I have to put up with them coming to my house to insult me, offend me, threaten me and mistreat me in the name of democracy. No, my house is my house, politics is done outside, communication is done outside, my house must be respected.

[00:54:26]If I don't allow people to insult me ​​in chats or on social media, and the argument is the same.

[00:54:34]It's my home, it's my channel, it's my Twitter account, it's my Facebook account, my Instagram account, my TikTok account, there I don't allow insults or slander. It just ca n't be.

[00:54:49]So, we have to be careful with that.

[00:54:53]Furthermore, I don't know to what extent it benefits the government; it seems that it benefits them greatly to incite violence, to generate these kinds of events, to send a gang of men to attack the house of a housewife who is at home. So what does that contribute? I think that can backfire on them, and people are more likely to say, "Oh, if that's how it's going to be, we'd better vote somewhere else." Suddenly, the tables turn.

[00:55:24]Raúl Alzate says, "Ricardo, we were warned and we knew that the left in power was going to be a problem. I'm already resigned to seeing Iván CPO, president, just in case, with his suitcase packed.

[00:55:39]We should be thinking more about how to prevent that from happening. Estela Girón and Elfonso Castillo say hello. Good morning.

[00:55:54]Maybe Mayive Casayas. What would our Lord Jesus Christ do? She asks herself some questions. Good morning, says Luángela Benítez.

[00:56:07]More comments appeared down here.

[00:56:10]Sandra Hernández, good morning. I completely agree with you.

[00:56:13]We must defend our home from violent aggressors.

[00:56:19]Fabiola. Oh, Ricardo, nothing she says will be taken seriously. Who? Real estate is private property on all sides. Ah, about Petro.

[00:56:31]Well, since one doesn't know about the law, Fabiolita, it's lucky that that lawyer knows that. Rajal Cárdenas, the Atlas Intel issue and the CNE, the CNE let it grow. In fact, in a line of The interview Blue Radio did yesterday showed how other magistrates shelved investigations against Atlas Intel. There are two polling firms there that are highly questionable, right? And both are foreign, one Spanish and this one Brazilian. The Spanish one had to leave because it was n't conducting polls according to all the requirements of the new law; instead, it was doing a kind of rolling survey, and it had to say it was leaving because it couldn't finance the large-scale operation or something like that. And here, Atlas Intel, well, there's the precedent: it got involved with the Democratic Center party, and now this mess with Sebana magazine.

[00:57:37]But I repeat, regardless of whether we like the polling firm or not, regardless of whether we like Semana's position or not, regardless of whether we like the other polling firm, ED3 I think it's called, or not. And regardless of whether we liked Noticias RCN or not, the truth is that there is no censorship in Colombia, and here the Electoral Council went too far because it applied censorship, and there can't be censorship in Colombia, and we should n't accept that just because today it seems acceptable. That they censor a pollster who isn't supporting my preferred candidate, and then the day after tomorrow they silence us all with the same argument. We ca n't let that precedent be set.

[00:58:26]You're right.

[00:58:29]Semana, the pollster, and those criticizing the magistrate's decision, which is blatantly unconstitutional. In Colombia, Article 23 states there is no censorship.

[00:58:43]Hey, Rafael Cárdenas, we have to be clear that there is a law today. Whether we like it or not, whether we like it or not. Pollsters have to abide by the law. Atlas Intela has flagrantly violated the law and they must be sanctioned.

[00:58:58]Right?

[00:59:00]I'm reading Rafael Cárdenas. Then he says R. Yes, I heard. Yes, I heard about your medical exams. Take care because health comes first. I always follow you live. So I always follow you live, if not later. Okay, Rafael, thank you.

[00:59:17]Yes, the judge may have made a mistake. I have no idea what they 're criticizing you for.

[00:59:24]The point is that censorship isn't There is. There's no censorship in Colombia, and that needs to be defended. Right?

[00:59:38]Okay, fine. Agreed. Done.

[00:59:41]Thanks for being here, everyone.

[00:59:43]Let's hope exam season ends tomorrow so I can sit here peacefully at 10 a.m.

[00:59:52]like every day. If not, please be patient. Remember, it's very important to subscribe to YouTube and turn on notifications because I can no longer send you the link via WhatsApp.

[01:00:12]WhatsApp decided to charge for that, and it's a fortune I can't afford.

[01:00:17]So, the easy, free way, the one that's available and works for everyone, is for you to subscribe to the YouTube channel.

[01:00:27]If you're too lazy and want me to keep sending the links via WhatsApp, you have to subscribe to a WhatsApp group called "Apuntadores" (Pronouncing Groups).

[01:00:37]You all have my WhatsApp number: 317 447519.

[01:00:44]Joining that group is free; just let me know so I can add you, because I can't do it without your permission.

[01:00:57]These things happen. When things aren't up to you, but rather belong to social media.

[01:01:02]They set the rules when they want, they change them when they want. Nothing you can do.

[01:01:08]Until Friday, I could send, uh, 4,000 links, almost 5,000 links to everyone on my WhatsApp list.

[01:01:22]The owners of WhatsApp, the people at Facebook and Instagram, decided no, no more. So, that's why the ratings have dropped. That's why now I have to tell those who got confused and think I'm not doing a show because they didn't receive the link again, that it's not my fault.

[01:01:43]I have the problem of medical exams, yes, but that's not every day. The problem is that I can't send you the link because now you have to pay for it, and a lot of money in dollars, a lot of money that I don't have. So, don't forget to subscribe to YouTube, it's easy, just click subscribe, activate the bell that goes like this, and the system will notify you, send you an email, and let you know when there's a show on the air on the app or Subscribe to the WhatsApp group however you want, but it's the only solution for now. Let me see if I understand. It says, "Don Ricardo, you have a group that you left and it's just been used for pure Tiger propaganda." Find a way to remove that group. I haven't seen it. Someone, maybe you sent me a link and it won't let me open it. It won't let me open it. Did someone take over that group? Who? I have no idea.

[01:02:47]Why, what for, and how did he do it? Because it's supposed to have an account, a password and all that, but so just stop, don't pay attention to that, my account is Ricardo Galán, everyone is connected here and the group I'm telling you to join for free is called "apuntadores" (pointers).

[01:03:13]The one for channel partners, that one is called VIP.

[01:03:19]And that's a completely different treatment. They're writing something to me here. They're going to ask me a question. They're asking me a question.

[01:03:41]Ah, but if it's private, I think so.

[01:03:50]Anyway, we're leaving. Thank you so much for being there. Please subscribe to YouTube, don't overthink it, it's the easy way out.

[01:04:00]Subscribe to YouTube and turn on notifications, and that will solve your problem. He sends it to her by email and he sends it through the YouTube app. Both things are free. We all win.

[01:04:14]Ciao. Ciao.