Confrontation and Disinformation in Colombia Are Impacting the Electoral Process
A year ago, the Office of the Ombudsman called on political parties and movements, as well as committees registering presidential candidacies, to sign a commitment for the conduct of the electoral process based on nine fundamental principles. Today, on the eve of a runoff election between two presidential candidates, only one of them signed that commitment, while the other ignored it.
The commitment is fundamental because it entails defending the primacy of life, adopting a policy of nonviolence, respecting institutions and the rules of the legal order, defending democracy, promoting constructive language and eliminating stigmatization, guaranteeing the dissemination of truthful information, embracing dialogue as a democratic commitment, recognizing youth, and supporting and respecting peaceful demonstrations and protests.
In pursuing this objective, and giving the Commitment a very high profile, the Ombudsman’s Office was joined by the Delegation for Church-State Relations of the Episcopal Conference, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia (UN Human Rights), the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia of the Organization of American States (MAPP/OAS), and the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (UNVMC).
One Candidate Signed the Commitment; the Other Did Not
A few days ago, with the electoral runoff approaching, the Ombudsman’s Office presented the third monitoring report on the Commitment. In that document, it analyzes speeches, statements, social media posts, and news reports related to the two presidential candidacies, emphasizing that one signed the commitment while the other still has not done so.
During the period between May 31 and June 7, 1,369 records were identified, of which 45 relevant events were consolidated for evaluation. The overall level of compliance or alignment was 23.3%, corresponding to a critical level.
Breaking down the results, the candidate who signed the commitment obtained a 50% compliance rate, calculated on the basis of 16 events. Meanwhile, the candidate who did not sign it obtained an alignment rate of 8.6%, calculated on the basis of 29 events.
Among the main findings, the report highlights an electoral environment marked by high levels of rhetorical confrontation, stigmatization, dissemination of false or misleading information, and questioning of democratic institutions. Among the points with the lowest level of progress was Point 5, related to constructive language and the elimination of stigmatization, with 16.7%.
The candidate who signed the commitment achieved a compliance level of 40% based on five events, compared with 0% alignment for the candidate who did not sign it, based on seven events. This occurred in a context marked by disqualifications, accusations, and narratives that deepen polarization and turn political opponents into enemies.
Main Recommendations of the Ombudsman’s Office
On the other hand, Point 6, concerning the guarantee of truthful information dissemination, registered a level of 0% (based on 13 events), highlighting the persistence of false, misleading, or insufficiently verified content by both campaigns. Regarding this point, the candidacy that signed the commitment recorded noncompliance in one registered event, while the candidacy that did not sign it recorded 12 events that were not aligned with Point 6.
Likewise, the third report states that the only point that registered a high level of compliance or alignment was the one related to dialogue as a democratic commitment, mainly due to the existence of public invitations to debate, which reached 78.6%.
For this point, the candidate who signed the Commitment obtained an 80% compliance rate based on five identified events; meanwhile, the candidate who did not sign it obtained a 75% alignment rate based on two identified events. However, these calls have not translated into effective spaces for respectful deliberation and, in some cases, were accompanied by challenging or stigmatizing expressions.
Based on the findings of the monitoring report, the Ombudsman’s Office reiterates that Colombia needs less confrontation and more democratic responsibility during the decisive days of the presidential campaign. Therefore, it calls on the candidacies to abandon stigmatization, reject disinformation, protect life, and recognize the legitimacy of their political opponents.
The institution insists that differences must be addressed through dialogue and institutions, and recalls that respect for electoral results and democratic rules is an indispensable condition for preserving public trust and guaranteeing a peaceful transition.