Green candidate Mockus will fight for every vote in round two of Colombian election

This is my approximation from facebook with google translate, you don't just need Spanish you need the context, some of which I don't have.....'Minga yes, no piñata.' well I know what this is hinting at and I know Pinata is the birthday thing you burst and Minga is mobilisation, but it is still a bit WTF....original here

Today we reached a goal that a few months ago seemed impossible to reach, to get to the second round: more than 3 million citizens have joined what has become a genuine green wave of hope. We know that together we can transform society. We know that violence, inequality and corruption are not a destination, but are problems we can overcome.

This represents a new citizenship that begins to assess the political, wishes to participate and does so with vision, effectiveness and decency. With the help of new technology, building a remarkable politics where participation is voluntary, disinterested and working in kind and gentle ways to correct each other. With commitment and creativity many are finding countless ways to explain, enhance and spread the message.

All we understood that we can be much better than we have hitherto been.

Today Achievements

This campaign has been an amazing learning process. Through social networking, person to person conversation and voting today million of Colombians participated, some resident in Colombia and others abroad; girls, children, youth, adults and the elderly , housewives, women and men, entrepreneurs and workers in the countryside and the city, indigenous and Afro-Colombians, and many Colombians who did not vote. And we have been spreading for three demands:

1) That each of us takes the lives of others and life itself as sacred.

2) That the public resources are resources of utmost value.

3) Not everything goes! We can achieve the desired results without sacrificing the principle.


With this second round we have the opportunity to move towards a profound cultural transformation that sees our country free of violence, drug trafficking and patronage. Which also free us from the extreme inequality that offends us all and whose desire to overcome the most privileged.

Education and cultural change, advocacy of law enforcement are also the best strategy for the preservation and sustainable use of ecosystems. In this way, Colombia will consolidate what was its first global environmental task: in fact, almost 40% of the territory is taken away by law to trade, to preserve, together, biodiversity and cultural diversity. More water, more green. Greener, more water. More cultures, greener, more water.

The meaning of the vote today

Today I feel that each of our voters, to mark the ballot in the Green Party, said: "Life is sacred." It was also as if we declare to each other "Your life is sacred." "Your life is sacred."

By voting, more than three million people committed today to play fair, to comply with the rules, respect others, to combat the culture of the shortcut. We already have a collective voice that resounds far and wide throughout Colombia and that we can say that if we are innovative enough to win the second round to push this cultural change.

The road

As Enrique and Lucho began to build this road, going through the cities, talk to people on the street, this project seemed impossible. The skepticism of self and others went beyond hope. However, the tide began to grow. Already on March 14, against all odds, we were more than one million eight hundred thousand.

Then came the union with Sergio Fajardo and his Movement Citizen Engagement. He and his team gave Colombia a beautiful demonstration of generosity. They had come a long way, had built an organization, had studied the situation in Colombia and had made proposals of deep content. And they decided to put the result of all his work in the service of the collective cause.

The Green Wave led us to discover our capacity for action. We feel that if we unite, every dream is achievable: unity is strength! Unity is strength!

We decided that ours will be a quiet force, a force law-abiding.

Today we are confident that by an ingenious educational process through a major cultural change, it is possible to build a functioning democracy, deliberative and peaceful, it is possible to end the influence of drug trafficking and corruption, it is possible to drastically reduce violence and may achieve a more egalitarian society.

The union has allowed us to add experience, achievements and knowledge, we must now multiply with you.

And is not the first time there is a mobilization of this magnitude in Colombia. Almost twenty years ago, Colombians enshrined in the Constitution a project based on the recognition and enjoyment of rights, based on a careful balance of powers, based on the autonomy of the regions and based on the duties of compliance with which we are all stewards.

Substantially advance the realization of that dream, the dream of the Constitution, it is our aim for the next four years. Our mission is clear. At this stage the story at this stage the story is written in pencil and constitution, not the blood with pencil and constitution, not the blood! We persist in the desire to form a government team of the highest quality.


Thank centered learning

I am grateful to life the opportunity to participate in this campaign, the opportunity to meet with this extraordinary team and the opportunity to discover the power of millions of Colombians who have recovered and show their hope.

I learned a lot. Above all, I rediscovered the power and pleasure of teamwork. Success in small, finished calling to millions of Colombians. I repeat, we can be much better than we have hitherto been!

However, by decision of the citizens, we must face in the second round to Dr. Juan Manuel Santos. Citizens are faced with two very different options. Dr. Santos has shown, in many ways, he is convinced that the end justifies the means. It is also supported by a political class whose behavior has undermined confidence in the institutions. The two have distinctly different interpretations of our reality. Our proposals for the country are very different. The Colombians will choose the next June 20 between these two paths: the continuity of results regardless of the media-make-better-or performance without sacrificing ethics or legality of the no-anything goes. We want to win but not at any price, we want to govern but not in any way.

I admire my other rivals in the first round. I also admire their vice presidential candidates.

Germain Vargas proved to have studied the situation in the country wisely. In its proposals, based on a wealth of experience as a parliamentarian, there are many useful tools for the Colombians tackle our problems and opportunities for integration in the contemporary world.

With Gustavo Petro have ideological differences, but for years we have participated in democratic settings in which we agree in an emergency: the urgent need for citizens to recover the political and economic power, and assure victims return of their lands, those lands the Mafia, as he calls them, have taken by force.

Sanin's tenacity and his enduring appeal to regain the public transparency and ensure opportunities for the most vulnerable sectors of society and also for women, will find resonance in a Green Party government.

As Rafael Pardo, I join the many voices of appreciation to their preparation, their intellectual ability and their personal. I confess that during the campaign greatly values its proposals to build a Fair Colombia. Their contributions will be crucial in building the country we want. We agree with the liberal defense of freedom and the dream of having a more egalitarian society.

By grouping in the Green Party, Sergio Enrique, Lucho and I believed that Colombian democracy requires strong parties. I believe in a public and transparent approach to parties, not the traditional agreements between them. There is nothing to divide, only shared principles and ideals. Mobilisation yes, no piñata.

By maintaining this attitude of respect for the parties, we leave the door open. We call on all citizens, those who voted for us today, those who voted for a different option, even those who did not turn out to vote, in the second round to join the alliance citizen. Together we can show that with the stylus and the Constitution, it can be.

Today we are the second largest political force in the country. This gives us the authority and responsibility to lead a citizens' alliance that leads us to the next June 20 is the winning project of democratic legality.

Gracias, gracias, gracias.