Saying people think differently when they participated in the same government sounds like deception
As Colombia's May 31 presidential first round approaches, candidates have locked in their running mates, each pairing a quiet argument about what kind of country the electorate is being asked to imagine. From center-left peace advocates to right-wing coalitions reaching toward the middle, the selections reveal a race less about programs than about the art of assembling trust across a fractured nation. Meanwhile, a corruption scandal ensnaring sitting senators reminds Colombians that the contest for power is never purely electoral — it is also a reckoning with the debts power already owes.
- The rapid-fire announcement of running mates compressed weeks of political maneuvering into days, forcing every faction to declare its hand at once.
- Paloma Valencia's choice of moderate economist Juan Daniel Oviedo ignited immediate accusations of ideological reinvention from the left, with President Petro calling it outright deception.
- Center candidates Fajardo and Murillo are each betting that exhaustion with polarization is itself a constituency worth courting.
- Senator Wadith Manzur's surrender to prosecutors over the UNGRD vote-buying scandal cast a legal shadow over the entire electoral process, implicating disaster-relief contracts as instruments of political corruption.
- With Maurice Armitage's withdrawal and the running-mate deadline passed, the race's architecture is now fixed — a divided left, a contested center, and a right gambling on a softer face.
Colombia's presidential race crystallized this week as candidates announced their vice-presidential running mates ahead of the May 31 first round, each choice a strategic signal in a campaign already split along deep ideological lines.
Roy Barreras, running from the center-left, chose Martha Lucía Zamora, a former attorney general who had worked in transitional justice following the 2016 peace accord and later served briefly in President Petro's government before resigning over a contract dispute. Barreras framed the pairing as a commitment to constitutional democracy over personal ambition. Sergio Fajardo, positioning himself at the center, selected Edna Bonilla, an academic and former education secretary under Bogotá's Claudia López, announcing the choice at the National University where both had taught. Fajardo cast himself as an antidote to the combative tone he said dominated the race. Luis Gilberto Murillo, a former foreign minister from the Pacific coast, named political scientist Luz María Zapata, leaning into his reputation as a conciliator in a campaign growing more polarized by the day.
The most debated selection came from right-wing coalition winner Paloma Valencia, who after three days of suspense chose economist Juan Daniel Oviedo — a moderate who had directed Colombia's statistics agency under former president Iván Duque and finished second in the conservative primary. The pick was designed to attract centrist voters, but it drew swift condemnation from the left. President Petro publicly questioned how figures from the same Duque government could now claim different positions, and the official campaign predicted the left would remind voters of Valencia and Oviedo's long opposition to the peace accord and transitional justice system.
Beyond the ticket announcements, the electoral process faced a serious legal disruption. Senator Wadith Manzur surrendered to prosecutors after the Supreme Court ordered his arrest in connection with the UNGRD scandal, in which authorities alleged that Petro's government had steered disaster-relief contracts to lawmakers in exchange for congressional support. Several other newly elected legislators were also implicated. Independent candidate Maurice Armitage withdrew from the race, citing the absence of a political machine for the final stretch. With the running-mate registration deadline passed, the field is now set: a left divided between Petro's preferred successor and a center-left challenger, a center trying to claim exhausted moderates, and a right hoping a softer vice-presidential profile can expand its reach.
Colombia's presidential race took shape this week as candidates locked in their running mates for the May 31 first round, each selection a calculated move to reshape the electoral map. The announcements came rapid-fire, each one signaling a different strategy for navigating a campaign already fractured along ideological lines.
Roy Barreras, the center-left candidate, chose Martha Lucía Zamora, a former attorney general who served as legal director of Colombia's transitional justice tribunal after the 2016 peace accord. Speaking from Cartagena, Barreras emphasized her credentials in peace work and victim advocacy, calling the pairing a commitment to constitutional democracy rather than personal ambition. Zamora had worked in President Gustavo Petro's government until December 2023, when she resigned from the National Defense Agency after clashing with the foreign minister over passport contract negotiations. The choice positioned Barreras to compete for left-wing votes against the sitting president's preferred successor.
Sergio Fajardo, running from the center, selected Edna Bonilla, an academic and former education secretary under Bogotá's Claudia López. Fajardo announced the pairing at the National University campus where both had taught, framing it as a signal of dialogue in a polarized race. Bonilla had overseen the creation of 40,000 new university slots in the capital. Fajardo criticized the "maltreating and attacking" that passes for political courage among rivals, positioning himself as an alternative to extremes.
Luis Gilberto Murillo, a former foreign minister and ambassador to Washington, named Luz María Zapata, a political scientist who directed the association of Colombian capital city mayors until recently. Zapata, who holds a master's degree in emotional intelligence, described joining Murillo's campaign as entering a family that moved her deeply. Murillo, from the Pacific coast department of Chocó and known as a conciliator, was casting himself as an antidote to the campaign's deepening polarization.
The most consequential choice came from Paloma Valencia, the right-wing coalition winner. After three days of suspense, she selected Juan Daniel Oviedo, an economist who finished second in Sunday's conservative primary with 1.25 million votes—17.8 percent of the total. Oviedo had directed Colombia's statistics agency under former president Iván Duque and carried a moderate, consensus-building reputation that appealed to centrist voters. Valencia's selection of someone with a more conciliatory profile sparked immediate criticism from the left. President Petro, despite constitutional restrictions on his campaign involvement, posted that "saying people think differently when they participated in the same government sounds like deception." Both Valencia and Oviedo had served in Duque's administration—she as a senator, he as statistics director. María José Pizarro, debate chief for the official candidate Iván Cepeda, predicted the left would highlight how Valencia and Oviedo had spent years attacking the peace accord and the transitional justice system, now claiming new positions. Former Bogotá mayor Enrique Peñalosa and ex-senator David Luna celebrated the pairing as complementary and explosive, signaling unity among the nine candidates who had competed in the conservative primary.
Meanwhile, the electoral process itself faced a legal reckoning. Wadith Manzur, a newly elected senator from the Conservative Party, surrendered to prosecutors after the Supreme Court issued a capture order. Manzur was implicated in the UNGRD scandal—a corruption scheme in which authorities demonstrated that Petro's government had purchased congressional votes by directing disaster-relief contracts to lawmakers in exchange for supporting government reforms and credit requests. Manzur had served on the Public Credit Commission, the body that approves or denies state borrowing. The scandal had also ensnared Karen Manrique, another newly elected senator representing conflict victims, along with three Liberal Party members and a former Green Alliance congressman, though those four would defend themselves in freedom rather than from detention.
Maurice Armitage, the former Cali mayor who had run as an independent, withdrew his candidacy, arguing that the field needed pruning. Though he acknowledged that many candidates reflected a healthy democracy, he noted he lacked a political machine for the final stretch and could better serve as a businessman building sustainable enterprises. The deadline for candidates to register their running mates with the electoral authority was Friday. With each announcement, the race's contours sharpened: a left divided between Petro's chosen successor and a center-left challenger; a center attempting to claim the middle ground; and a right betting that a moderate vice-presidential pick could broaden its appeal beyond its base.
Citas Notables
She has worked on peace matters, defended victims, was director of the National Defense Agency, and I am proud of this vice-presidential pairing— Roy Barreras, on Martha Lucía Zamora
She is a person who knows how to build bridges, not trenches— Sergio Fajardo, on Edna Bonilla
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does the choice of a running mate matter so much in this moment?
Because it signals who you're trying to reach. Valencia picking Oviedo—a centrist who defended the peace accord—is her saying she wants to expand beyond the hard right. But the left sees it as theater. She spent years attacking those same things.
And Barreras choosing Zamora?
He's trying to own the peace process legacy. She's credible on it—she actually built the transitional justice system. It's a direct challenge to Petro's candidate from the left flank.
What about Fajardo's move?
He's the only one truly claiming the center. Bonilla is an educator, not a political operative. He's saying: we can govern without the tribal warfare.
But can he win from the middle?
That's the question. The race is polarized. The center has always struggled in Colombia. But if neither left nor right consolidates, there's space.
What does the Manzur surrender tell us?
That the corruption scandal is real and ongoing. It's not abstract—it's touching newly elected senators. It complicates everything, especially for Petro's team.
Does it change the race?
It keeps the focus on institutional decay. Voters are watching whether the system can hold itself accountable. That favors whoever can claim to be outside the mess.