Viviane Morales, a centrist Senator in Colombia’s congress and former attorney general, announced today that she will run in Colombia’s 2018 Presidential Election with the Liberal party. However before she can run in the general election, she must battle other candidates in the Liberal party for the nomination, including Humberto de la Calle, Juan Manuel Galán, Luis Fernando Velasco, and Juan Fernando Cristo.
Morales’ positions contrast sharply with her Liberal opponents for the nomination. Morales has been a frequent critic of Santos’ peace accords with FARC guerrillas, and has proposed a referendum to decide the issue of homosexual marriage and adoption of children. In fact, many of her positions would align her more with the country’s conservatives than liberals.
Clearly, Morales is hoping that her centrist views pull her support from both sides, including those disenchanted with the country’s political process. Given her positions, it is unlikely that she will be nominated by her party. The senator is therefore calling for the Liberal party to select their candidate through a popular vote. Candidates are currently selected internally by party leaders.
