[ad_1]
It was not an easy year to govern. The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, not only had to face a pandemic that generated unemployment, poverty and serious delays in the city, but, at the same time, receive all kinds of criticism through social networks.
Despite this, experts from different areas of public life analyzed what were the successes of the president and what should be her priorities in 2021. Most of them focused their analysis on managing the pandemic, it’s obvious.
(You may be interested in: ‘We did not lack but one meteorite’: Claudia López)
Eduardo Behrentz, analyst and vice-rector of Services and Sustainability at the Universidad de los Andes, who accepts that governing in the midst of a health crisis is not easy at all, considers that one of López’s main mistakes was the premature implementation of the quarantine with the arrival of the covid-19 to the capital. “We lasted many months with the closed economy at a time when contagion rates were very low, if compared to now.”
The expert points out that the economic cost of the decision has been very high. “Quarantine is a contingency measure reserved for the most critical moments of the epidemic. There was a wear and tear in the control measures ”.
Carlos Fernando Galán, president of the Bogotá Council and who maintained firm positions on the current administration, believes instead that “He reacted quickly and, after minimizing the covid-19, led the quarantine measure. This influenced the National Government to decide to implement compulsory isolation ”.
In all this the councilor of the Green Alliance Diego Cancino agrees. “This year, literally, life was at stake. The mayor adapted to the change and took action when it needed to be done. He had leadership. We did not see scenes as dead in the streets, as in other cities of the world. The intensive care units (ICU) did not collapse ”.
However, others, such as urban planner Mario Noriega, believe that one of López’s dilemmas for 2021 will be to make a decision as to whether to prioritize the economy or life. “I don’t think he has resolved it yet.”
Changing the subject, the mayor’s other challenge will be to convince the public that the green corridor project in the 7th race really does contemplate substantive changes compared to the project of the past administration.
“I think it was a great mistake to freeze the TransMilenio project for the 7th. Coming to power to undo what the previous administration left behind is not a good exercise of public power. This dynamic should be broken. Whoever left the project was democratically elected and there were also no substantive changes, ”said Behrentz.
For Galán, saying that the 7th green corridor is not a TransMilenio is wrong. “The rulers must respect their campaign promises and if they change their mind, they must face it, acknowledge it and explain why they changed their mind.”
(Interview: Is the Green Corridor the same as TransMilenio ?: The IDU responds)
Noriega said that López will have to define whether to continue concentrating the mobility of the city on the bus or to bet on multimodality. “From what he proposes in the green corridor of the 7th and the other trunk lines that he has in process, it is evident that his preference, and the only thing he wants to leave as a legacy of his management, is the bus mode”.
Another challenge for the city president, according to experts, is to stop using social networks to communicate important decisions for the city. “I would like to see her more in serious debates. We need you to solve insecurity problems instead of ignoring the problem and if the issue is one of perception, it is something that you also have to solve ”, Behrentz said.
Galán believes that it is not right “to wash your hands and blame others every time there is a problem,” and explained that López has minimized serious situations such as the crowds in the Illimaní park with contradictory messages. “Another mistake was demonizing formal commerce. I believe that it has failed in the economic reactivation and in the security policy, and makes the mistake of comparing 2019 with 2020 in figures ”.
But not everything is critical. López’s team has been applauded on several occasions. “I think she is surrounded by good secretaries, well-intentioned, technically sophisticated people. She has good convening power and a good cabinet is not a minor success, ”said Behrentz, who also said that the mayor’s proposals on issues such as sustainable mobility have been important.
And on issues of citizen participation, Behrentz believes that his open government project, in which citizens are permanently consulted on important issues, is heading in the right direction.
However, Noriega wonders: “To promote participation, should we start from a new sectorization or from existing neighborhood communities? For example, everything indicates that there is a preference for the fashion of the ’15-minute city’, creating 30 new districts and not based on the 1,922 neighborhoods that Bogotá already has ”.
(Further: Bogotá will have 30 districts to be a ’20-minute city’)
Another achievement that Galán recognizes is having set up the Solidarity Income scheme. “This is unprecedented in the city. However, they should not present it as a basic income ”.
The president of the Council also highlighted López’s actions after the protests that broke out after the death of law student Javier Ordóñez. “He understood that he had to acknowledge police abuses and ask for impunity to end.”
Those who have worked with López know of his commitment to several important issues for the city.
(To continue reading: Luis Ernesto Gómez will be the Mayor in charge of Bogotá)
Cancino highlights the public policies that he has promoted so that there is equity between men and women, to fight against unpaid domestic work, for equal pay and against domestic violence. “The District System of Care is a bet so that women do not continue to carry all the burden of preparing meals, caring for the elderly and children, cleaning, issues that have increased much more in the pandemic.”
The councilor added that the change has begun with the two blocks of care that already exist in Ciudad Bolívar and in Bosa. “Even in all the economic reactivation strategies the gender approach has been taken into account. If we look at the unemployment figures, they impact women doubly ”. Galán agrees that the policies on women and gender, the construction of which was initiated by the previous government, are a great advance in this administration.
(We tell you: Trip to the interior of the Care Apples in Bogotá)
Cancino also highlighted Claudia López’s commitment to peace. “Bogotá is the epicenter of a participatory territorial program that aims to make the city an epicenter of peace and reconciliation.” The councilor explained that the challenge for next year is to reduce the gaps between the rural and urban world. “The District Peace Council will be discussed next year. There it will be necessary to define how we are going to resolve conflicts without killing ourselves. We must reduce the homicide rate and robberies in the city ”.
One of Cancino’s criticisms, however, has been against the expressions that Claudia López has sometimes used when referring to the problems generated in the context of Venezuelan migration. “He’s never intended to make bad comments against specific populations, but I do think he needs to be more careful so that we make communication appreciative.”
In terms of urban planning, Noriega explained that another of López’s dilemmas for 2021 will be to define if he wants to shape a region or continue to densify Bogotá. “It seems, due to its desire to develop Lagos de Torca, that it prefers to continue concentrating development in the capital regardless of excessive densification.” To conclude, this expert believes that the worrying thing is that all of Claudia López’s decisions always look towards ‘returning to the old normality’, and not to transcending the pandemic and seeing the possibilities for change offered by the current crisis.
CAROL MALAVER
SUB-EDITOR BOGOTÁ SECTION
