Millions in replacement votes, political spectacle and a Congress that decides in silence.
News Colombia.
Electing a president in Colombia is a fundamental act of democracy, but Understanding how power works beyond the presidential vote is just as important.. At this point, the presidential consultations have been presented as an exemplary exercise in citizen participation, when in reality They hide a high economic cost and a profound lack of political pedagogy.
One of the least explained data is that of the replacement by vote. In a presidential consultation, Each vote is worth around 8,287 pesos in public resources.
This means that a candidate who obtains 30,000 votes can receive about 248 million pesos from the Stateeven if he does not win the consultation or advance to the first round. This is not a political victory, but rather a funded participation.
The number is growing exponentially. A candidate who reaches one million votes receives approximately 8,287 million pesosmoney that comes out of the public budget.
That is to say, money of all citizens. Under this scheme, consultation stops being just a democratic mechanism and also becomes a political platform sustained with state resourceswhere participating already represents a profit.
Meanwhile, public debate focuses on the spectacle. The media highlights symbolic winnerssocial networks amplify discourses, epic narratives are built and divisions deepen.
However, in the midst of that noise, a much more decisive decision is made invisible: the election of the Congress of the Republic, which takes place on the same day.
Vote without understanding power
Congress doesn’t generate viral headlines, but it does concentrate real power. It is the organ that approves laws, defines the national budget, authorizes taxes and controls—or blocks—the president’s reforms.
Without majorities in Congress, any presidential project is limited or doomed to failure. Without Congress there are no reforms, without Congress there is no governability, without Congress there is no country.
The underlying problem is not the consultation itself, but the absence of political pedagogy. Citizens are explained how to vote in a consultation, but It is not explained who is going to legislate, how power is formed or why Congress is decisive.
Thus a democratic distortion is produced: electoral emotion is promoted, but understanding of the system is denied.
Here appears a right that is rarely mentioned: the right to understand power. It is not enough to cast a vote; Democracy requires clear and complete information.
The president proposes, but Congress orders. As long as this reality is not explained with the same force as the electoral spectacle, the country will continue celebrating the show while structural decisions are made in silence.
The consultation is not democracy: it is the most expensive show in Colombian politics.
Each vote is worth 8,287 pesos in replacement.
30,000 votes can become 248 million.
One million votes, in more than 8,287 million public pesos.While the country watches the show,
the same day… pic.twitter.com/uld23pTNj3— TUBARCO (@tubarconews) February 7, 2026
