Colombian hard-right presidential candidate styling himself "El Tigre". A former criminal-defence lawyer turned businessman with a mansion in Miami, he campaigns in a bulletproof vest with a Bukele-style beard, bouncing behind bulletproof glass at rallies under inflatable claws and plumes of sparks. His catchphrase is "Firme por la patria" ("strong for the homeland"). He promises to build ten privately run mega-prisons in the jungle "in the style of President Bukele", may use a state of exception giving the presidency and armed forces extraordinary powers, and floats mass trials of gang members and longer detention without trial.
He says he would reduce the size of the Colombian state by 40% in four years. Despite his free-market rhetoric he promises populist gestures such as strong-arming banks into offering 2% mortgages (rates are around 17%). He claims wealth makes him independent. He has sued more than 100 journalists for defamation. As a defence lawyer he represented Alex Saab, a close ally of Nicolás Maduro, and the pyramid-scheme operator David Murcia Guzmán; critics question his rapid ascent to wealth and allege illicit enrichment.
Blessed are the forgetful: for they get the better even of their blunders.