“Green, lesbian and mayor”: this is how a German magazine described Claudia López

The German magazine Focus made a report to the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, which it titled ‘Claudia López on social changes in Bogotá’. The medium exposes the challenges assumed by López and the meaning of his arrival in the administration of the largest city in Colombia, becoming the first LGBT person in the high position.

“Green, lesbian and mayor”, It is as the publication describes, which takes a tour starting on January 1, 2020, which it says was a great start for the mayor, who proposed in his campaign a new social and environmental contract for Bogotá, emphasizing the fight against inequality, the climate crisis and the gender dimension of poverty.

Pasture: Former anti-corruption prosecutor Gustavo Moreno will be totally isolated in pavilion 3 of La Modelo

The article also emphasizes the difficulties that arose due to the dissatisfaction of the young people who advanced several protests demanding more and better opportunities, even when the coronavirus pandemic arrived, aggravating the problems that were already being experienced and becoming a severe setback, particularly for those young people and for women who demanded a greater space in the social and work context.

For the German media, this blow to the promised new social and environmental agreement became an opportunity for renewal and transformation, taking steps to manage health capacities, prevent deaths, protect income and avoid hunger across the city. 712,000 households received a basic income and food aid, and among many other achievements, 124,000 students were provided with internet connections and tablets.

“We convinced universities and colleges to reduce costs, shorten programs and make them more flexible in order to give more people the opportunity to go back to school or enroll for the first time.”Claudia López told the magazine.

To this social approach, which included new pedestrian zones and redesign of the public space so that restaurants, shops and artists could return to work, The mayor added her green side, in which she highlighted the 85 kilometers added to the 550 already existing in bicycle lanes, achieving, with this and other contributions, that Bogotá today has the lowest pollution in years.

The magazine highlighted that while the pandemic brought new challenges, it was also the opportunity to reinvent ourselves. The mayor foresaw enormous challenges, since social discontent will become more evident in the middle of an election period with which difficult times will come, “And there we will have to defeat another pandemic: that of populism, which takes advantage of people’s frustration. The authoritarian populism of the left, which could turn to ashes all that democracy that we have built; and a right-wing authoritarian populism that seeks to abolish the higher courts and ban public protests “Claudia López affirmed.

Pasture: Know the exceptions to the curfew in Cali and Medellín for this New Year

The report in the German magazine ends with a hopeful reflection by the Bogota president who invites us to have faith for a better future for the city and its residents, whom she feels very proud to have met in this difficult but profitable year: “In 2021 and beyond, we will be better people and citizens. And we will achieve something that we have always sought: a democracy that produces a more just and peaceful society.“Concluded the mayor.