The late Minister of Defense was preparing to begin the presidential campaign for 2022. He was two months away from the deadline to resign and fulfill a goal he had already pursued: to reach the Casa de Nariño.
The political country was shocked by the tragic news: Carlos Holmes Trujillo, Minister of Defense, died at dawn on Tuesday due to pneumonia caused by COVID-19. He has been hospitalized since January 12 and today at almost 2 in the morning they reported his death.
(Read: Carlos Holmes Trujillo, Minister of Defense, Died of COVID-19)
The death of the high public official marks three days of national mourning, announced this morning by President Iván Duque, but not only. It has undoubtedly caused an earthquake inside the Democratic Center, the ruling party, since Trujillo was one of its main pieces that succeeded Duque in 2022.
It was a fact that the minister had planned to resign in order to fully plant his aspiration and thus fulfill his dream: to reach Casa Nariño to govern the Colombians. He was two months away from the deadline to do so: his resignation 12 months before the election date avoided the impossibility of running as a candidate.
(Read this profile: Carlos Holmes Trujillo, Duque’s loyal squire)
In the latter part of his political career, Carlos Holmes Trujillo defined his path to the presidency. After participating in several governments, he wanted to be the candidate of uribism in 2013, but lost to Óscar Iván Zuluga, who aspires against Juan Manuel Santos, but lost. The same happened in the last electoral contest in which a candidacy failed against today’s one of President Duque.
In the current political landscape, several Uribismo figures have revealed that the campaign was indeed Trujillo’s next step and that his party supported it. “Our last conversation was long, we talked about all the topics. His resignation was a fact. My gratitude to him is infinite; for everything he did for me and for everything he did for Colombia, ”Senator Paloma Valencia told Fm.
(Remember: The last public act of the Minister of Defense: in Magdalena and in the middle of the controversy)
Similarly, Ernesto Yamhure, a columnist and friend, told Semana that Trujillo intends to resign in the second week of February in order not to be disqualified. “But he still had in his heart that anguish that he had a duty to fulfill, a task to fulfill in the Ministry of Defense and that was exactly what he aimed for. He had such a crossroads in his soul between his legitimate personal aspiration and his commitment to the country at the forefront of the Defense portfolio, “he told the portal.
Thus, his death will be, in the coming months, a move within the Democratic Center to replace the figure of Trujillo in the next election. Not without saying goodbye to the defense minister first.
“Dr. Carlos Holmes Trujillo embodied all the virtues he wanted in a politician: firmness in beliefs, executive capacity, incorruptible will and infinite love for Colombia. He was a statesman who had the country in mind, knew his ailments in depth, and always knew how to work to solve them. His life should be a role model for future generations who want to contribute to building a better Colombia. Carlos Holmes Trujillo was the great lord of politics “, was the description made by the Uribista community of the official in the statement issued by the bank of the Democratic Center to mourn this loss.