Rodolfo Hernández, a social media mogul who turned out to be a surprise candidate in Colombia’s presidential election, has been largely absent from public life in recent weeks. He refused to attend discussions and did not hold rallies, favoring the live streams his team collects on social media. But on Sunday, as the polls opened, Mr Hernandez got out of a white car in Bucaramanga, his hometown, surrounded by bodyguards, and joined a roaring crowd of voters. “Long live Rodolfo!” screamed supporters, many trying to get a taste of the candidate as he entered his polling station. Mr. Hernandez pushed the herd with a big smile. His opponent, Gustavo Petro, a longtime senator and former rebel trying to become the country’s first left-wing president, voted over 250 miles south in the Bogota capital. In Bucaramanga, the medium-sized city where Mr. Hernández built his fortune and once served as mayor, his candidacy has created a political frenzy and deep regional pride among voters who say they believe he represents them. Carlos Gamboa, 42, a businessman, was among the crowd waiting in line when Mr Hernández arrived to cast his ballot. “Most of us are with Rodolfo,” he said, adding that he did not trust Mr Petros, in part because of the candidate’s time as a member of the M-19 guerrilla group. Mr Hernández has run on an anti-corruption platform despite being accused of corruption, accused of pushing subordinates to award a city contract to a particular company, a deal that could benefit his son. He said he was innocent. At the Bucaramanga polling station, many voters did not appear to be concerned about the charge. “No one who comes to power here is clean,” said Gilma Beserra, 58, “but Rodolfo is the least corrupt.” In Bogota on Sunday morning, Adriana Martínez, 24, was already lined up outside a high school in the working-class neighborhood of El Sosiego. He had just finished his night shift as an assistant health administrator and had gone straight to the polling station by bus. Ms Martínez said she supported Mr Petro, and that the decision was strongly influenced by the election of Francia Márquez as vice-president, who could become the country’s first black woman vice-president. Ms Márquez is an environmental activist who has emerged from poverty into a national phenomenon, speaking out in a campaign about race, order and gender in a direct way that is rarely heard at the highest levels of Colombian politics. “He is a person who comes from where we come from,” Ms Martinez said. “He had to fight to get where he is.” Ms Martinez said she gave little weight to the argument that Mr Petros’s policies would lead to the same kind of economic, humanitarian and democratic crisis that happened in Venezuela. In Colombia, “you do not have enough money to buy a potato. “In this sense, we are already in extreme poverty,” he said. At the same polling station, 31-year-old Ingrid Forrero said she saw a generation gap in her community, with young people supporting Mr Petros and older generations in favor of Mr Hernandez. Her family calls her a “small revolutionary” because of her support for Mr Petros, whom she said she favors because of his education and income inequality policies. “The youth have a greater tendency towards revolution,” he said, “to the left, to a change.” – Megan Janetski and Genevieve Glatski
