During the ongoing Colombian presidential campaign, Antanas Mockus’ popularity has increased rapidly; leader of the Green Party (with very different principles from those of the European “Greens”), this Lithuanian descendant has now reached the first place in the opinion polls and nothing seems to be able to stop what has happened to be known as the “Green Wave”.

Father of four, Mockus is a family man, very close to his mother. She is a very important person for him and the one who taught him that honesty is of utmost importance in life, constantly reminding him of the values and customs of her motherland. His mother being as important as she is to him, I would dare say Mockus’ bond to Lithuania –a place he has never lived in, with all that entails, of course- must be very strong. The same applies to the Colombian Lithuanian community in general, for our grandparents and parents have made a great effort to keep such bond alive.

The Lithuanian community in Colombia is rather small compared to the ones in Argentina or Brazil and the few Lithuanian families there are in Colombia are dispersed all over the country, which has made interaction difficult. However, with the advent of new technologies, enlarging families, and many members currently living in Bogotá, the community has recently become somewhat more active; Mockus himself has been involved in the process. Everyone receives news from the Honorary Consulate as well as information regarding events and there is a permanent connection, something which until some time ago was virtually impossible.

Thanks to his two successful terms as mayor of Bogotá, Mockus has been long known not only among the members of the Lithuanian community, which despite being small is quite influential and would presumably support him, but among people from all over the country. His favoritism is strong in most urban areas yet Mockus still needs to earn the hearts of rural population, which by the way is usually neglected by the opinion polls.

Together with his team, Mockus represents a formidable effort to actually change things for better by investing heavily on education, which Colombia desperately needs, and by reinforcing the principles of Rechtsstaat. He also prioritizes fostering awareness about legality, whose boundaries continue being so often trespassed that it has lost value for Colombians. Take for example drug trafficking, which has pervaded all social spheres, or tax evasion, or everlasting violence. Mockus’ very premise “Your Life is Sacred” -which from a European perspective would seem scandalous, if you like, for life is something that people here take for granted and assume to be untouchable- is a demonstration of how indifferent to death people have become in Colombia.

Mockus’ detractors say Colombia is not ready for a man like him, that someone with a harder approach to the guerrilla problem should be elected – as if fighting crime were not an obligation of any government regardless of its political ideas. As it has been previously implied, Colombians have forgotten what the rule of law is, and Mockus understands that very clearly; anyway, it is never too late to invest on education: results will come along.

Mockus’ movement won only 8 out of 268 seats in the elections for Congress (a recount is ongoing and only 42 have been confirmed so far), but the whole shift from political tradition it has generated sets an important precedent in Colombian history. In addition, considering Mockus’ was on his very own when he became mayor of Bogotá and yet managed to transform the city by educating people, there is a good chance for the country as a whole to undergo the same.

An eventual victory of Mockus would put both Lithuania and Colombia on each other’s scene, at least on the general public level. On the official level, however, the picture is quite different as neither country has diplomatic representation in the other. Distance would still be an issue, yet with trade between the two nations remaining under USD 2 million in 2009, there would definitely be room for growth.

Should Mockus not win the Colombian election; perhaps there could be a place for him in Lithuanian politics. Good ideas are applicable everywhere. Of course, knowing how things work in any particular place in order to be able to shape such ideas to fit actual needs and bring them to effect is a must, but Mockus could not do so badly compared to some local politicians.

If Mockus wins the elections, Lithuania could learn from Colombia that citizens’ -particularly new young voters- participation is critical for change. The fact that a group of scholars with no political affiliations and their candidate reached the presidency of a country like Colombia, where corruption is endemic, would show us that things only change when people are proactive. On the other hand, Colombia, with a relatively short and troubled history, could learn from Lithuania that no matter what a nation might endure -war, invasion, repression- the sense of belonging can make it last forever and rise over and over again. Sadly though, sometimes I get the impression that Lithuanians are losing this feeling of belonging; hopefully, they will remember a bit of it if Antanas Mockus wins.

Santiago Jurkšaitis is a Colombian-Lithuanian, who has been living in Lithuania for five years.  He is currently doing the last year of his BA at Vilnius University.