| She couldn't take any more, she
wanted to fight for her nation. She worked on her mother 's election
to Senate then she herself entered the Ministry of Finance. After
a few years, frustrated by the few results she has obtained, she decided
to go into politics with her friend Clara Rojas. She was elected to
the Colombian Parliament. She kept denouncing corrupt policies and
politicians, in particular, the government of Ernesto Samper, who
even she had half-heartedly supported in his 1994 presidential campaign.
She received death threats several times, narrowly escaping an attack.
She had to send her children out of the country. Newspapers regularly
tell her off, and her peers bring the most abominable accusations
against her that then are relayed by unscrupulous journalists. Several
times, she has to defend her honour in public and always clears herself.
In 1998, she started her own party, "Oxygen", and ran for
the Senate. Contrary to all expectations, she garnered the most votes
in that election.
Soon, she comes to believe the only way to change the system is
to be elected President in May 2002. She resigns from her senate
position at the end of 2001, leaving the Chamber by coming out with
the sensational statement, " When I am the President, I will
resign all of you!"
|
