Rodolfo Hernández Suárez

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Hernández and the second or maternal family name is Suárez.

Rodolfo Hernández Suárez
Mayor of Bucaramanga
In office 1 January 2016 – 10 September 2019
Preceded by	Luis Francisco Bohórquez
Succeeded by	Juan Carlos Cárdenas Rey
Personal details
Born	(1945-03-26) 26 March 1945 Piedecuesta, Santander, Colombia
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	League of Anti-Corruption Governors
Education	National University of Colombia

Rodolfo Hernández Suárez (born 26 March 1945) is a civil engineer, businessman and Colombian politician. He was mayor of Bucaramanga from 2016 until his resignation in 2019. He placed second in the first round of the 2022 Colombian presidential election and will face a second-round runoff against Gustavo Petro to determine the winner on 19 June. He is the owner of the company Constructora HG.

Biography

Hernández was born in Piedecuesta, department of Santander, in 1945, and was raised in nearby Bucaramanga.

Prior to his entry into politics, he graduated from the National University of Colombia in 1970, and worked a career in the construction industry HG Constructora, focused on a number of areas including housing, apartment buildings, municipal buildings and public spaces. The company is based in Bucaramanga, Piedecuesta, Floridablanca and has expanded expand to other cities in Santander (Socorro, Barbosa y Girón), and Barranquilla and Bogotá. One report claimed he earned over. US$100 million.

Hernandez's father was kidnapped and held for 135 days by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP), and Juliana, one of his four children, was kidnapped and presumably killed by the National Liberation Army (ELN) in 2004 after he refused to pay the ransom, arguing it would put the rest of his family at a higher risk of kidnapping.

Hernández entered politics as a local councilor for Piedecuesta. He won the mayoral election of Bucaramanga in 2015, becoming mayor of Bucaramanga and served until 2019. As mayor, he became known nationally for weekly Facebook broadcasts in which he answered questions from citizens, and for his public fights with city councilors which he accused of being thieving "rats". In 2018, he was suspended for three months for slapping a councilor. In 2019, the Office of the Attorney General sanctioned him for alleged improper participation in politics while holding the mayoral office, which Hernández responded to by resigning from the position. During his tenure, he became known as an campaigner against corruption, and when he left office, he had an approval rating of 84 per cent.

Hernández has previously caused controversy among the Venezuelan expat community in the county after stating Venezuelan women were often "baby factories" who would need to be supported by the state. Hernández also caused controversy, when he said, "I am a follower of a great German thinker, his name is Adolf Hitler" during a 2016 interview, and has since disavowed the statement on multiple occasions saying he meant to say Albert Einstein.

Political positions

Self-described as a populist, Hernandez has campaigned against the corruption of the traditional political class and emphasized his image as a successful entrepreneur who can transform Colombia, financing his own campaign.

Hernandez has campaigned on an anti-corruption slate to “clean” the country of corruption and to donate his salary. He said he would give financial rewards to citizens who report corrupt state officials. Reuters has described his political position as centre-right.

His political positions include:

1. Anti-corruption: centralize fiscal control to reduce corruption

2. Abortion: decriminalization of abortion under certain circumstances but stated he will comply with the supreme court's decision

3. Drugs: Treat drugs as a public health problem; legalization of marijuana for medical use.;

4. Tax reduction: lower the value-added tax from 19% to 10%; a basic income for all senior citizens (regardless of past contributions) and potentially those near or below the poverty line progressively writing off debt for students in estrato 1 and 2 (including active students, and those with the best grades); increased access to higher education in the regions; elimination of "4 or mil" transaction tax.

5. Fiscal Policy: Universal health care; switching from a punitive to a rehabilitative attitude towards drug addiction; Olympians and world record holders from the country state pensions; increasing social payments for successful sportspeople to up to COP100,000 per day; a 50% quota for women in public service and the presidential cabinet; proposed merging ministries to save money specifically combining Interior Ministry with the Ministry of Justice; Information Technologies Ministry with Science and Technology Ministry; Environment Ministry with Culture Ministry; and Sports Ministry with Education Ministry.

6. Peace Process: implementation of Colombian peace accords; negotiating with armed groups including the ELN

7. Internal Security: strengthen justice system with in armed forces ; rehabilitate image of armed forces; restructure INPEC, the Colombian national prison system; eliminate required military service . Said ESMAD will not be used as a brutal element of shock against popular indignation or the people's right to protest

8. International Relations: reestablishing relations with Venezuela

9. Environment: welfare payments for those that maintain (rather than cut down) forested areas; and limiting fracking unless it meets environmental conditions and has voiced support for fracking test / pilot project , Hernández has stated his willingness to add an addendum to the FARC peace deal to include the National Liberation Army. He has also pledged to strengthen law and order and create jobs.; opposition to using glyphosate herbicide for coca reduction

Hernandez extensively uses social media, and has large following on Youtube and TikTok2022 presidential elections on Tiktok. He received the backing of the third-placed candidate Fico Gutiérrez, for the second round, urging voters "to keep Petro out".