They should start looking for hiding places because I'm coming for you
En los últimos días de una campaña presidencial marcada por la violencia criminal, Paloma Valencia cerró su recorrido en Barranquilla con un mensaje que intentó unir la mano dura con la promesa social. La candidata del Centro Democrático ofreció reactivar órdenes de captura contra organizaciones criminales mientras tendía la mano a los colombianos más vulnerables con propuestas de vivienda, energía y conectividad. En ese equilibrio entre la fuerza y el cuidado se revela una pregunta antigua: ¿puede un Estado ser al mismo tiempo implacable con el crimen y generoso con su pueblo?
- Valencia prometió 'cazar como ratas' a Los Pepes y Los Costeños, elevando la temperatura retórica en una campaña donde la seguridad es la herida abierta del país.
- Su discurso de cierre en Barranquilla convirtió el nombre de su rival Iván Cepeda en sinónimo de complicidad con la violencia, borrando la línea entre voto y responsabilidad moral.
- Para no quedar atrapada solo en el registro del miedo, Valencia desplegó un paquete social: seguro de moto gratuito, tarifas de energía más bajas, internet comunitario y vivienda para mujeres.
- La tensión central de su candidatura —represión feroz más agenda popular— busca capturar a los indecisos que quieren orden sin abandonar la esperanza de un Estado que los proteja.
- En sus palabras finales, reconoció el agotamiento del país y se ofreció como punto de encuentro, apostando a que la fatiga con la polarización puede convertirse en votos.
Paloma Valencia cerró su campaña presidencial en Barranquilla un viernes por la tarde con un discurso diseñado para sacudir conciencias. La candidata del Centro Democrático prometió reactivar órdenes de captura contra lo que llamó el cartel nacido de las negociaciones de paz, y nombró directamente a Los Pepes y Los Costeños: que buscaran dónde esconderse, les dijo, porque ella venía por ellos. Su lenguaje fue deliberadamente crudo —los cazaría como ratas, llegaría con puño de hierro— una apuesta por diferenciarse en una carrera apretada y señalar un cambio de postura radical frente al gobierno actual.
Pero el cierre no fue solo seguridad. Valencia superpuso una agenda social pensada para los votantes que aún no se deciden: seguro de moto gratuito, tarifas eléctricas más bajas, conexión a internet para comunidades sin acceso, programas de vivienda para mujeres. La combinación buscaba mostrar que la firmeza contra el crimen y el cuidado de los más vulnerables no son contradictorios sino las dos caras de un mismo proyecto.
También lanzó una advertencia directa a quienes consideraran votar por Iván Cepeda, sugiriendo que hacerlo los haría cómplices de la violencia que siguiera. Fue una afirmación dura, que convirtió la elección en una cuestión de responsabilidad personal ante el daño colectivo.
Al final, Valencia intentó suavizar el tono. Reconoció que Colombia estaba cansada del odio y de la política del señalamiento, y se presentó como el espacio donde distintas visiones podían convivir bajo un mismo techo de competencia y voluntad. Si los votantes percibieron esa combinación de mano dura y promesa social como coherente o contradictoria, eso definiría en buena medida el destino de su candidatura en los días finales de la campaña.
Paloma Valencia stood before her supporters in Barranquilla on a Friday afternoon, closing out her presidential campaign with a message aimed squarely at the criminal organizations that have carved up territory across Colombia. The Centro Democrático candidate promised to reactivate arrest warrants against what she called the cartel born from peace negotiations—a direct rebuke of the current administration's approach to gang violence. Her language was unsparing. She would hunt them like rats, she said. She would bring the iron fist of a Colombian woman down on their operations.
The two groups she named explicitly—Los Pepes and Los Costeños—should start looking for hiding places, Valencia told the crowd. She was coming for them. The rhetoric was sharp, personal, designed to cut through the noise of a crowded race and plant a flag: under her administration, the security posture would shift from negotiation to pursuit. The gangs that have terrorized neighborhoods, extorted businesses, and displaced families would face a different kind of government.
But Valencia's closing argument was not security alone. She layered in a social agenda meant to reach voters still undecided. Free motorcycle insurance for riders. Lower electricity rates for households struggling with utility bills. Internet connections for communities without them. Housing programs specifically for women. These were the counterweight to her hardline security message—the carrot alongside the stick, the promise that a Valencia government would not just hunt criminals but also build something for ordinary Colombians.
She also took a swipe at her opponents, warning voters that a ballot cast for Iván Cepeda would make them complicit in violence, that they would bear responsibility for deaths that followed. It was a stark claim, one that collapsed the distance between electoral choice and bodily harm. The implication was clear: some candidates were soft on crime, and softness had a cost.
In her closing words, Valencia tried to recalibrate. She acknowledged that Colombia was tired—tired of hatred, tired of politicians pointing fingers and assigning blame. What the country needed, she argued, was not more division but solutions. Character. A government that worked for everyone, not just the wealthy or the connected. She positioned her coalition as the place where all Colombians could fit, where there was room for different views under a single umbrella of competence and will.
The campaign closing in Barranquilla crystallized the tension at the heart of her candidacy: a promise of ruthless enforcement against organized crime paired with a social agenda aimed at the working poor. Whether voters saw these as complementary or contradictory would help determine the shape of the race in its final days.
Notable Quotes
They will feel the iron fist of a Colombian woman because I will hunt them like rats— Paloma Valencia, presidential candidate
Colombia no longer needs more hatred or politicians distributing blame. It needs solutions, character, and a government that works for everyone— Paloma Valencia, addressing undecided voters
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When she says she'll hunt them like rats, is that just rhetoric or does it signal something concrete about how she'd actually govern?
It's both. The language is designed to energize her base and signal a break from the current administration's negotiation-focused approach. But it also reflects a real policy shift—reactivating arrest warrants, ramping up enforcement operations. It's not empty talk; it's a different security doctrine.
Why name Los Pepes and Los Costeños specifically? Why not just say criminal organizations in general?
Naming them makes it personal, makes it real. It tells those groups directly that she knows who they are and what they've done. It's also a signal to voters in coastal regions where those gangs operate—she's saying I see your problem, I'm coming for them.
The housing for women, the free motorcycle insurance—do those feel like genuine policy or campaign window dressing?
They're real proposals, but they're also strategically chosen. Motorcyclists are a constituency, women are a constituency. She's trying to build a coalition that spans security hawks and people who need material help. It's not cynical; it's how you win elections.
She said voting for Cepeda makes you responsible for deaths. That's a pretty extreme claim.
It is. It collapses the space between electoral choice and violence. It's saying there's no neutral ground—your vote has blood on it if you choose the wrong candidate. That's the kind of language that mobilizes people, but it also polarizes them.
What does she mean by the cartel of peace total?
She's referring to criminal groups that benefited from or exploited the peace negotiations with the FARC. In her view, those negotiations created space for gangs to consolidate power. So she's linking her opponent's approach to the rise of organized crime.