32 million Colombians must choose today between fear and hatred.
If turn out is over 50% it will be a minor miracle.
There is even talk that if right-winger Oscar Ivan Zuluaga loses by a tight margin, his political patron ex-president Alvaro Uribe will contest the result.
Uribe accuses incumbent Juan Manuel Santos of widespread vote-buying, particularly in Colombia’s Caribbean coastal region, and believes Colombia’s electoral officials are in Mr Santos’ pocket.
Mr Uribe alludes to Venezuela’s controversial 2013 presidential election, planting fear in the minds of his compatriots that Colombia is on course to become the next “Castro-Chavista” state; in the hands of the far left, subject to the will of the Cuban dictators.
Meanwhile, Santos has turned the election into a false referendum on his attempts to negotiate peace with the FARC guerrillas. “”With your vote you can sign Colombia’s peace”, he tells us.
For a president to ask for another 4 years in power on a promise he knows is not within his will to deliver is contemptuous, mendacious even.
Depressingly, it is not up to Colombians whether the guerrilla continue their war.
By telling voters they are choosing between “peace or war”, Mr Santos is attributing the people with the failure of the state and the intransigence and violence of the FARC. ¿Cómo así presidente?
But while Santos’ claim that peace is his to win – ignoring that is a right enshrined in the constitution – ought to be met by ridicule, it has instead been trumpeted by the national media and the vast majority of the political class.
It seems the media have given up their role of holding the government to account while the politicians have opted for “convenient” unanimity. One wouldn’t want to challenge a president responsible for dishing out the state’s largesse, would one?
So there is little optimism is for today’s democratic “fiesta”. No doubt, elections are beautiful when they have not been corrupted, distorted or bought. But, there is a real feeling that this time, whoever emerges victorious, will have done so despite, not because of, the will of the people.
Opinion polls have consistently shown – for months- that around 70% are against Santos’ re-election. Yet he remains favourite to win.
It will come down to which candidate is feared the most. The “traitor” and “Castro-Chavista” Santos? Or the “paramilitary” Uribista, Zuluaga? Yes, the debate has been as enlightening as that.
At 4pm polls close. Shortly after we will know who is the next occupier of the Casa de Nariño.
Whoever wins will do well to perceive the growing sense that time is about to be called on the traditional political class.
Colombia has been governed for too long by an elite who have failed to capitalise on the nation’s natural and human resource.
The last five elections have been defined by the issue of the FARC. If peace is secured then Colombia’s politicians will have to sell something else.
I’m convinced government of for and by the people cannot be far away. Fear and loathing must not be allowed to triumph again in four years’ time.
We will report later on the result.