Roy Barreras and his political future: “It would be irresponsible for someone to launch a presidential candidacy”

On February 21, with the participation of important figures from the country’s business union, political leaders and representatives of the social sectors, the party was officially presented The strength of peaceled by the senator and president of the Senate, Roy Barreras.

In the presentation of the new political party, Roy Barreras indicated that the biggest challenge is not to disappoint the social change demanded by the country’s voters in the last presidential elections, which gave victory to Gustavo Petro.

“The people are represented at the moment on the side of peace that we all defend and that is what we are betting on in the Peace Force. We have a responsibility to be the voice of the center listening to the needs of the whole country,” said the President of the Senate.

Since he announced the birth of the party The strength of peace, it has been speculated that Barreras’ intention is to be a presidential candidate for the 2026-2030 term. In addition, the National Advisory Center created for CM& a survey, in the five main cities of the country, on this possibility.

16% of those polled voted in favor of seeing Barreras in the electoral contest, while 58% voted against. The remaining 26% indicated that they did not know or did not answer.

When the media presented the results, it was the same Roy Barreras who were the first to respond to the survey. “If they had asked me, I would have said no. It would be irresponsible for someone to launch a presidential candidacy seven months after the start of President Petro’s term,” he replied to CM&.

And then added: “Right now, everyone, especially me, is responsible for having to work full time, pushing forward President Petro’s social reforms,” ​​Barreras said.

But, on January 22, 2023, on his Twitter account, Barreras referred to his aspirations to reach the Casa de Nariño, noting that he considers it an honor to be considered the successor of Gustavo Petro and he did not rule out the idea raised, although he felt that it was not the right time to delve into the subject.

“Thank you to those who nominated me to succeed our president @petrogustavo, an undeserved honor, but I’m only running to heal myself, I chose to fight for my life and I still haven’t won this election. And it is worth saying that those of us who have responsibilities for change would be irresponsible”.

The ace Barreras’ presidential intentions would not be new. In July 2021, he registered, before the National Registrar, on the Committee for the Promotion of the Movement The Force of Peace, to collect one million signatures and promote his candidacy for the presidency of the Republic in 2022.

At that time, the current member of the Historical Pact, underlined: “Registration by signature implies favoring independence because the time has come for independent citizenships. It is time for Colombia to break free. It is time to break with the old abject machine”.

“We put victims at the center of the agreement we were honored to sign and honor the legacy of President and Nobel Laureate Juan Manuel Santos. Today we collect the will of 7 million Colombians who have accompanied us with the YES to peace,” said the senator from the offices of the Registry.

However, weeks later, he renounced this possibility of becoming the debate leader, of the current head of state, Gustave Petro, during the election campaign.

“I take on the challenge of building the majorities in the new Congress, we will elect the largest number of senators and representatives to the House from the lists of the historic Pact to give Colombia the certainty that there will be governance for to make the reforms and changes that the Colombian people demand, and also the political control that the balance of power demands,” he said on August 12, 2021.