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In London and around the world, Greens are holding their breath in the run up to the May 30th Columbian elections, as polls consistently show Green Party presidential candidate Antanas Mockus ahead of his rival, the former defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos.
British Greens showed their solidarity and support for their Columbian counterparts at a Green Party Fiesta in Camden’s Stables Market at the weekend.
London Federation of Green Parties Coordinator, Noel Lynch, who attended the Fiesta said:
"We enjoyed getting to know the capital’s Columbian Greens and are looking forward to meeting more of them in the future. There are currently around 400 in London and they all have the right nto vote in this election. With campaigning officially over now, and the Greens ahead in the polls, we could be about to witness the first Green head of state in the world and the first Green government.
"This would be a tremendous boost to Greens, not only in the UK – where we have just elected our first MP – but across the world."
The Green Columbian presidential candidate, Antanas Mockus, is a philosophy professor and mathematician of Lithuanian parentage who was twice mayor of Bogota (1995-97, 2001-03). Since taking leadership of the Green Party just over two months ago, Mockus has steadily climbed in the polls. Even a recent announcement that he is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease failed to halt the rise. Key election pledges include: allocating money towards peace (instead of war), investing 15 per cent of income from Colombia’s petroleum company, Ecopetrol, in education, cleaning up political corruption and reducing poverty and crime.