The “Presidential Candidates 2026” panel in the National Congress of Exporters, brought together several of the applicants who seek to reach the House of Nariño in the next elections. During the day, The participants presented their approaches around security, economy, energy transition, institutionality and social challenges that the next government will face.
Juan Manuel Galán, of the New Liberalism, said that “The next government will face some challenges that do not wait. In addition to fiscal framework, it must have governance”He warned that one of the central points is to recover the capacities of the public force.
(See: Government concludes work tables ordered by the Constitutional Court on UPC)
“We have the security challenge: we must recover the public force recovering their capabilities,” he said. In the economic field he expressed concern about the effects of the tax. “The tax reform frightens investment and Colombia needs to enhance investment in the medium and long term,” he said.
He added that his proposal is to strengthen the country in productive matters: “We want to return the country the largest food producer, it is not possible that we continue to import what we eat. The industry must be Nearshoring. We have the opportunity to be a great energy hub”
In the institutional, he stated that “we must undertake a political reform, which must have as a core the financing of the policy.” He said that his proposal includes the creation of an electoral jurisdiction. “We need an electoral court and we must facilitate the legal financing of the policy”, He concluded.
Mauricio Cárdenas, from the Citizen Movement Avanza Colombia, made a parallel between the current situation and the challenges of the next government. “The other year they have a fair that is that of ideas and those are the elections. We are going to have the pavilion of bad ideas: total peace, fight with the United States, among others,” he said. In his opinion, “Colombia is going through a very difficult time, the next president will have to be a kind of plumber, because the pipes must be unbridled. Colombia looks like the eighties”
(Also read: They confirm that Juliana Guerrero, Vice Minister of Youth, did not do the test to know pro)
Juan Daniel Oviedo warned about the risk of energy shortages in the next four years and asked to give a clear north to the public force.
Courtesy Analdex
Cárdenas criticized the expenditure level. “There is an overflowing public spending,” he said, and stressed the need to urgently solve central issues, “We have to quickly solve the problem of safety, health, return economic stability. But for that the private sector is needed”He highlighted the importance of foreign trade:“ There is a very powerful lever that are our exports. We have to reach the streets with new technologies. ”
In energy matters, he explained that “You have to stop deforesting and start using transport with less fossil fuels. To stop deforesting, money is needed. For everything, resources are needed and where are they? In gas, oil, etc. Let’s explore and use all technologies”When referring to investment, he said that“ today we have an investment of 16% of GDP. At that rate of growth, Colombia will not be a rich country. There is a crisis of trust because there is a wrong model, such as the state that can do everything. The private sector is defensive all day. ”
For his part, Juan Daniel Oviedo, of the movement with all for Colombia, focused his intervention on values and economic development. “You (exporters) represent three key values: discipline, because they exist in a country that is mostly informal. This indicator is the main detractor of foreign trade in the country. Second, team work. Third, it is the ability to listen,” he said. For him, a joint effort with foreign trade is required. “We need to understand what are the main development avenues in the country. That’s what we need to make a team with foreign trade,” he said.
In security, Oviedo said that “We all want security, with a government that does not confuse the peace agenda, with the security or with the justice. That security is produced with intelligence and infrastructure. You have to give a north to the public force to improve security. Everyone wants security, but with a purpose”
(See more: Tax would make logistics costs and subtract competitiveness from foreign trade)
Paloma Valencia said that the Army has lost 23,000 men and announced that its central commitment will be the energy to finance environmental protection.
Courtesy Analdex
On the energy transition, it was emphatic: “In Colombia there could be transition if we draw all the natural gas we have in the country’s subsoil. Four years come in which we will face a risk of shortage.” He added that Ecopetrol must be transformed. “ANDCopetrol will have to change, you should think that the extraction of offshore gas will not be for domestic demand, but to export. Here in Colombia we will have to export mining-energy fuels to finance development and that same energy transition”
Paloma Valencia, from the Democratic Center, explained that “Petro leaves us with four crises: fiscal, security: we have to give the illegal hard. The third crisis is the health that is destroyed. Fourth crisis, energy, will touch us a blackout surely.” For the senator, the demographic change will mark a challenge: “We are adartas of a paradigm shift. Colombia is becoming old. The bet must be energy. With energy we will finance environmental protection, we need to protect the Amazon and the strategic. We will have legal stability contracts”
On security, he said that “the army has lost at least 23,000 men. We need to recover confidence, so the central element is to reconquer communities.” In energy matters, he proposed that “We can still make hydroelectric plants. You need two things, less bureaucracy and less previous consultations. We need royalties turned for taxes. We have to get out of environmental licenses that are impossible”
(Read:Petro announces changes in the coalition of government after choice of new magistrate )
Mauricio Cárdenas warned that the investment is in 16% of GDP and raised to reactivate oil and gas exploration.
Courtesy Analdex
Enrique Peñalosa, independent candidate, said that “we must be clear that we can be a developed country, and that is already invented. We have to get more private investment, that must be sought at all costs.” He highlighted security as a central axis. “Security is the maximum priority. More than words, they are the facts”He said.
In the mining field, he explained that “we must unlock mining, Colombia could be a great copper producer and legalize gold production. We need to give all legal security.” Finally, he emphasized the geographical advantages of the country. “Our main asset in Colombia is the proximity to the east coast of the United States”He said.
(See: They ask to cut $ 37 billion from the 2025 budget, for exceeding reservations)
Diana K. Rodríguez T.
Portfolio journalist
