Paloma Valencia Says ‘Win Elections, Not Polls’ at Colombia Campaign Closing Rally

Written on 05/25/2026
Josep Freixes
Paloma Valencia wrapped up her election campaign in Colombia in Bogotá, urging thousands of supporters to “win elections, not polls.” Credit: @PalomaValenciaL / X.com.

Uribismo closed ranks this Sunday around the presidential candidacy of Paloma Valencia at a massive rally at the Movistar Arena, where the Democratic Center senator sought to project an image of right-wing unity and political strength less than a week before Colombia’s presidential elections.

Thousands of supporters arrived at the venue in the capital to attend the conservative leader’s campaign closing rally, in an event marked by speeches about security, authority, the economy, and the need to consolidate a broad coalition to confront the leftist ruling party.

The candidate appeared on stage after several hours of political and musical performances, surrounded by leaders from different right-wing factions. Dressed in white and backed by a stage production designed to convey strength and optimism, Valencia insisted that polls will not determine the outcome of the May 31 election.

“We are not here to win polls but to win elections,” she said from the stage before an audience that ended up completely energized after a colder and slower start.

Related: Colombian Presidential Election: Overseas Voting Gets Underway.

Paloma Valencia says ‘win elections, not polls’ at Colombia campaign closing rally

The political event became a public demonstration of the alliance Valencia’s campaign has built over recent months. The candidate was joined by her vice presidential running mate, Juan Daniel Oviedo, as well as former president Alvaro Uribe, the leading figure of the Democratic Center and the historical reference point of uribismo.

Representatives from the Liberal, Conservative, and La U parties also attended, along with leaders who participated in the so-called “Great Consultation,” the primary mechanism held in March from which Valencia emerged victorious. Figures such as Enrique Peñalosa, Anibal Gaviria, David Luna, and other leaders who had spent months competing in the interparty primary before rallying behind the senator’s candidacy appeared on stage.

Valencia used that collective image to reinforce one of the central messages of her campaign: the need to form a broad government bringing together different political currents to confront the country’s polarization. During her speech, she said uribismo “is bigger than ever” thanks to the support of traditional sectors and new political allies.

The presence of Maria Claudia Tarazona, widow of presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay — assassinated last year by a hitman during a rally in the nation’s capital — was one of the most emotional moments of the event.

Tarazona took the stage to reiterate her personal support for Valencia and said the candidate represents the continuation of the political project defended by her husband, even though her father-in-law and the deceased politician’s father — Miguel Uribe Londoño — is also running for president in this election. “Honoring Miguel’s wishes and the last of my freedoms, I have decided to support Paloma Valencia,” Tarazona said.

Her remarks were accompanied by applause and tributes to the memory of the slain leader, who was allegedly murdered on the orders of an illegal armed group and whose figure continues to carry symbolic weight within uribismo.

In that sense, and with polls not favoring her, Paloma Valencia argued that “we are made not to win polls, but to win elections,” assuring the cheering crowd that “we are going to prove it once again.”

Security, healthcare, and a hard-line approach

In the political substance of her speech, Valencia maintained the themes that have defined her presidential campaign from the beginning. The candidate promised to “restore security” in the country, strengthen the Armed Forces, and dismantle the “total peace” policy promoted by the current government, a strategy she has repeatedly criticized for, in her view, weakening state authority against illegal armed groups.

During the event, she said her government would firmly confront organizations such as the ELN, the Gulf Clan, and dissident factions of the FARC. She also promised to restore political and operational backing to the security forces, one of the messages that generated the loudest applause among her supporters at the Movistar Arena.

Another central point of her remarks was the healthcare system. Valencia said that, if she wins the presidency, she will push for a reform within her first hundred days in office to correct what she considers a deterioration of Colombia’s healthcare model. The candidate defended a system based on private-sector participation and strongly criticized reforms promoted by the ruling coalition that seek greater state involvement in management.

“We are not going to lose because this is the campaign that has overcome everything. And do you know why I am certain that we are going to win? Because I am a uribista. And do you know what being a uribista means? It means working, working, and working. But besides working, it means being willing to conquer the impossible. This has been the party of difficulties,” the candidate said.

Valencia ultimately insisted that Colombia is ready to elect its first female president and presented her candidacy as an option of experience and stability in contrast to what she described as extreme proposals from both the left and the far right. “Paloma Valencia will be the first woman president of Colombia,” said Gabriel Vallejo, director of the Democratic Center party, during his speech at the event.

Oviedo, the choice to unite the center-right

One of the toughest speeches of the day came from Juan Daniel Oviedo, who adopted a more confrontational tone toward other political sectors. The former head of DANE defended the cohesion of Valencia’s coalition and criticized figures who distanced themselves from the “Great Consultation” during the campaign.

Oviedo said that those who remained within the alliance demonstrated political commitment and the ability to sustain a joint project even amid electoral difficulties. He also sent messages aimed at centrist and center-right sectors still weighing possible endorsements ahead of the first round and a potential presidential runoff.

Nevertheless, Juan Daniel Oviedo remains the top choice of what has been, until now, the traditional Colombian right wing, in an effort to win over the center and the center-right to his candidacy.

“We have to recognize that this is difficult, but by working as a team, with this wonderful team of people supporting us, we are going to win. We are going to win even if it hurts the extremes,” Oviedo said, in another demonstration of the campaign’s electoral strategy of maintaining its right-wing platform while seeking the political center after the emergence of Abelardo De la Espriella as a right-wing populist option.

Valencia’s campaign closing contrasted with other recent events marked by more epic speeches about a possible first-round victory. In the case of the Democratic Center candidate, the main objective was to showcase political structure, party backing, and governing capacity.

The campaign sought to convey the idea that, beyond adverse results in most recent polls, there is a solid electoral machine behind her candidacy that, they hope, will allow her to advance to the runoff ahead of the other right-wing candidate, the populist De la Espriella.

With the Movistar Arena packed and surrounded by the leading figures of uribismo and traditional parties, Paloma Valencia thus closed a campaign centered on security, order, and the unity of the Colombian right, in an attempt to keep uribismo — and herself — as the leading conservative option to compete for the presidency at the ballot box next Sunday.