VTMBH Article: Body
There are at least 300,000 Colombians in the New York area, most of whom retain the right to vote in Colombian elections. On March 10, Colombia held its congressional elections. In Queens, they were held at a public school in Jackson Heights. Here is our scorecard.
The Colombian consulate gets an F for not reaching into its pockets. The consulate didnt offer lunch to those who verified and supervised the votes; volunteers had to take up a collection to pay for the simple meal they were given. The consulate also did not pay for a clean up crew. Volunteers who attended the event ended up pitching in. In addition, in the past three or four elections, people complained that polls closed too early, at four p.m. If they stayed open until six this year, it would be more convenient and more Colombians would vote.
We are ashamed that though fewer Colombians reside in Miami, they had a larger voter turnout than we did in New York.
We have a particular complaint against the people who broke every legal and moral law by blocking the entrance to the school. Inside the school, some people just a couple of steps from the voting tables were boasting loudly about their favorite candidate.
On the other hand, we are greatly satisfied to see economist and candidate Humberto Suarez Mottas great effort to put forward the best interests of the Colombian community by giving a speech at a prudent distance from the school.
But back to the elections. A representative of one candidate said he spent $35,000 on the campaign. I doubt this, since three weeks ago his campaign visited Resumen, asking for an excessive contribution. We didnt give it, and they never returned.
Of the three most popular candidates, Penaranda, Suaremotta and Castelarthe most conservative---won and they said Queens is liberal.
Bernardo Duque arrived late, and it seems he was unable to vote. We hope none of this happens again in the presidential elections on May 26.
The candidates for Congress who support Colombian presidential candidate Uribe Velez swept the elections on Sunday, indicating his chances of winning on May 14 are good. The supporters of Serpa and Noemi were left behind.
It seems that in New York, candidate Cardona won with 1148 votes. Suarez Motta received third place with 364 votes, Penara with 298, and Rafael Castelar with 211 votes. Jairo Martinez, from Miami, received the most votes in the United States, with 6,523 votes, of which 133 were from New York and New Jersey. No one in Colombia knows what happened.
The former head of guerilla organization M-19, Antonio Navarro Wolf, and his partner, Gustavo Petro, received an overwhelming number of votes.
The Colombian consulate gets an F for not reaching into its pockets. The consulate didnt offer lunch to those who verified and supervised the votes; volunteers had to take up a collection to pay for the simple meal they were given. The consulate also did not pay for a clean up crew. Volunteers who attended the event ended up pitching in. In addition, in the past three or four elections, people complained that polls closed too early, at four p.m. If they stayed open until six this year, it would be more convenient and more Colombians would vote.
We are ashamed that though fewer Colombians reside in Miami, they had a larger voter turnout than we did in New York.
We have a particular complaint against the people who broke every legal and moral law by blocking the entrance to the school. Inside the school, some people just a couple of steps from the voting tables were boasting loudly about their favorite candidate.
On the other hand, we are greatly satisfied to see economist and candidate Humberto Suarez Mottas great effort to put forward the best interests of the Colombian community by giving a speech at a prudent distance from the school.
But back to the elections. A representative of one candidate said he spent $35,000 on the campaign. I doubt this, since three weeks ago his campaign visited Resumen, asking for an excessive contribution. We didnt give it, and they never returned.
Of the three most popular candidates, Penaranda, Suaremotta and Castelarthe most conservative---won and they said Queens is liberal.
Bernardo Duque arrived late, and it seems he was unable to vote. We hope none of this happens again in the presidential elections on May 26.
The candidates for Congress who support Colombian presidential candidate Uribe Velez swept the elections on Sunday, indicating his chances of winning on May 14 are good. The supporters of Serpa and Noemi were left behind.
It seems that in New York, candidate Cardona won with 1148 votes. Suarez Motta received third place with 364 votes, Penara with 298, and Rafael Castelar with 211 votes. Jairo Martinez, from Miami, received the most votes in the United States, with 6,523 votes, of which 133 were from New York and New Jersey. No one in Colombia knows what happened.
The former head of guerilla organization M-19, Antonio Navarro Wolf, and his partner, Gustavo Petro, received an overwhelming number of votes.