Colombia’s leftist presidential candidate Clara Lopez shared details with local media about her 70s relationship with right wing former President and Senator-elect Alvaro Uribe. The former head of state gave the presidential hopeful a “beautiful ring,” which she still has.
“How did two people, who are like oil and water, possibly end up together?” an RCN radio reporter asked Lopez.
“Alvaro Uribe was a passionate young liberal, who was able to recite the speeches of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan with an intonation that has been lost in today’s political campaigns,” said the leftist Democratic Pole (Polo Democratico – PD) candidate.
PROFILE: Alvaro Uribe
PROFILE: Clara Lopez
The revelation of this past relationship between two of the most polar opposite politicians in Colombia today, came earlier in February in the form of a book about the current presidential candidates called “Los Suspirantes 2014” or “The Hopefuls 2014.” This book, which profiles all of the candidates — including former candidate Aida Avella who has joined Lopez as her running mate — contained the juicy bit of gossip in a chapter titled, “Clara Lopez.”
Over two months later, RCN discovered this relationship and made the story viral at the start of May.
“We went out together when I was the Economics Secretary of the President of the Republic in the government of Alfonso Lopez Michelsen, and Uribe was General Secretary of the Ministry of Labor,” said Lopez, affirming that the romance happened in the 70s and not in the 80s as the reporters initially suggested.
The leftist former mayor of Bogota also noted that Uribe had given her a “beautiful and modest ring” which she still keeps, though she admitted that “I believe that now it doesn’t fit on my little finger.”
Lopez assured RCN that the relationship did not last very long and that it never compromised either politician’s work.
“No, never have we returned to talk about this. Yes, we have run into each other, for example when I was Secretary of the Government in various events of security themes, but always on official terms. Never have we had a conversation of a private character,” explained the leftist candidate.
“It was many many years ago,” Lopez concluded.