Presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos today defended a controversial radio ad, where a comedian who imitates the voice of President Alvaro Uribe calls on listeners to vote for the former defense minister.
Colombian law forbids the President from supporting any of the campaigns or from using his position to interfere in the election race, prompting Conservative party candidate Noemi Sanin and Cambio Radical candidate German Vargas Lleras to harshly criticize the Santos ad earlier this week, saying it was “selling a false advertisement” to the Colombian population.
In the now notorious Santos ad, a professional voice artist imitates a recent statement made by Uribe about his last days in office and then tells listeners to vote for Santos because he has the “strength” to continue with his work.
Santos said on Caracol Radio Program 6am Hoy por Hoy that he was merely trying to add some humor and “playfulness” to a campaign, adding that this was all “part of the game.”
But radio host Dario Arismendi , who is the Colombian equivalent of the BBCs Jeremy Paxton or CNN´s Wolf Blitzer, continued to inquire about the ad, asking Santos if the idea had come from Venezuelan spin-doctor J.J. Rendon and urging him to clarify what role the foreigner had in his campaign.
Santos refused to answer any more questions about Mr. Rendon and about the ad, claiming that most people he had spoken with and polled had liked the radio commercial and that the only ones who opposed it were “anti-uribistas.”
The former defense minister asked Arismendi to change the topic, saying that people were more interested in listening to his proposals on health, security, and employment generation.
But Arismendi refused, saying that Santos could come on Caracol another day to talk about those issues and adding that Colombians had the right to know what role the Venezuelan spin doctor played in his campaign, before mentioning that in his opinion “the way candidates are running their campaigns reflects how they could run the country.”
The radio host went on to criticize Santos for his “playful” ad, saying that he did not agree with this sort of “playfulness” since “trickery and deceit is something Colombians must fight against because that is why we are where we are.”
Santos hung up the phone, abruptly ending the interview.
Caracol´s 6am hoy por hoy is Colombia´s most popular radio news program, with more than 3 million daily listeners. The show regularly conducts live interviews with Colombian leaders from all political background.
Fans of Cuban musicians the Buena Vista Social Club will be excited to hear that one of their most popular members, Omara Portuondo, will be giving a concert in Bogotá on October 1st.
"Feeling's Girlfriend" and "The Voice of Cuba" are just two of the nicknames given to the singer, who has been performing for over fifty years.
U.S. President Barack Obama will meet his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos for the first time on September 24th in New York, at a United Nations General Assembly meeting.
The two leaders plan to have a conversation about the future relationship between the two countries.
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