The night before a presidential election used to be calm, a day of reflection. The focus was on national news programs and their summaries of the campaigns, candidate profiles, or reviews of the polls. Tonight, 12 hours before the polls open in Colombia, the focus will be on social media. The main candidates are playing their last cards there, where the votes that can still be swayed are: on screens and phones. While the ultra Abelardo de la Espriella will talk with the popular streamer Westcol, right-wing senator Paloma Valencia will also speak to young people through Yefferson Cossio. Meanwhile, in a more traditional version of the same age-old game, the frontrunner and left-wing senator Iván Cepeda will give his last interview to journalist Daniel Coronell.
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Westcol, whose real name is Luis Fernando Villa, is the most viewed content creator in the country on platforms like Kick and TikTok, with millions of young followers who would hardly tune into a traditional debate. In a casual tone, he interviewed President Gustavo Petro two months ago — with 2.4 million viewers live and on replay — and then former president Álvaro Uribe, political godfather of Valencia, with more than 500,000 views. The young influencer has turned his channel into an informal political space with an audience that no television network has managed to replicate. The chat with De la Espriella is scheduled for this Saturday at seven in the evening.
The boost from one of the most viewed content creators in the country was initially going to be received by Valencia, for a broadcast scheduled for Thursday, May 28. However, Westcol canceled it after the candidate appeared on a stage alongside Cossio, another controversial influencer with whom the streamer has a dispute. “She is campaigning with people I do not identify with at all,” he said as justification.
But the Uribismo candidate was not left without a space on digital platforms. The same Cossio who closed the door with Westcol joined other Colombian content creators — Cintia Cossio, Carolina Gómez, and MrStivenTC — to accompany her on her own stream. The event will start at 4:30 in the afternoon, also on Kick.
Almost simultaneously, Cepeda plays his last interview before the elections with the renowned journalist Daniel Coronell, who was president of Univisión until last December and hosts his morning report daily on Caracol Radio. The seasoned reporter, one of the most authoritative voices in Colombian journalism, speaks with Cepeda through his YouTube channel. Unlike Westcol, Coronell does not measure his influence so much in views but in impact: his investigations have toppled officials, unsettled presidents, and shaped the news agenda for decades.
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Besides the interviews, the right-wing candidates are betting on religion. After his interview with Westcol, De la Espriella has called for a “prayer for victory” at nine at night through the YouTube channel Católicos Defensores de la Patria. He will do it with his wife and with the participation of Eduardo Verástegui, a former telenovela actor turned figure of the Mexican far right. In the image of the call, De la Espriella and his wife appear alongside Verástegui with a virgin behind them.
Valencia has also announced a religious tour to “entrust the presidential election to God.” Her campaign team had chosen the iconic church of Chiquinquirá for a religious agenda this Saturday, but it was canceled for logistical reasons. This Saturday, starting at 10:30 in the morning, the Uribista candidate visited the Parish of the Sanctuary of the Divine Child in the 20 de Julio neighborhood, one of the largest Catholic pilgrimage points in Bogotá.
With the intention of not falling behind, President Gustavo Petro has also sought to put the focus on himself, although not on social media but on traditional television. This Saturday, at eight in the evening, the public channel Señal Colombia will broadcast the documentary Petro: decades of struggle, a people decide. Through his social media, the president has promoted the broadcast with the same name as the production. “A people decide.”
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