U.S. markets closed

  • S&P Futures

    3,899.75
    -4.00 (-0.10%)
     

  • Dow Futures

    31,401.00
    -20.00 (-0.06%)
     

  • Nasdaq Futures

    12,027.75
    -12.75 (-0.11%)
     

  • Russell 2000 Futures

    1,769.80
    0.00 (0.00%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    110.73
    +1.16 (+1.06%)
     

  • Gold

    1,824.50
    -0.30 (-0.02%)
     

  • Silver

    21.07
    -0.10 (-0.49%)
     

  • EUR/USD

    1.0578
    -0.0009 (-0.08%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    3.1940
    +0.0690 (+2.21%)
     

  • Vix

    26.95
    -0.28 (-1.03%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.2265
    -0.0005 (-0.04%)
     

  • USD/JPY

    135.2720
    -0.1740 (-0.13%)
     

  • BTC-USD

    20,588.72
    -496.25 (-2.35%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    447.37
    -14.42 (-3.12%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    7,258.32
    +49.51 (+0.69%)
     

  • Nikkei 225

    26,874.38
    +3.11 (+0.01%)
     

Colombia’s Presidential Favorite Has a Record of Abrasive Remarks

Matthew Bristow and Oscar Medina
·2 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Rodolfo Hernandez, a 77-year-old construction magnate known for his abrasive style, is now the favorite to be Colombia’s next president after securing a place in next month’s election runoff. He has sometimes been compared to former US president Donald Trump for his disdain for the establishment and ability to shrug off controversies that would sink other politicians.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Over the years, he has made derogatory remarks about political and business rivals, minority groups and reporters. He often curses and, on one occasion, used physical violence.

These are some of the comments he has made in recent years which raised eyebrows.

On Hitler

  • “I am an follower of a great German thinker. He’s called Adolfo Hitler,” Hernandez said in an interview with RCN Radio in 2016. He later apologized to the Jewish community and said that he had meant to say Albert Einstein.

On Venezuelans

  • In a 2019 interview with Blu Radio he described Venezuelan migrants as “baby-making machines.”

While Mayor

  • “Why are we paying all these fatsos, to sleep all day long? You stop over in the fire station and they are all sleeping, getting paid overtime, and their snoring wakes the dead,” Hernandez said of his city’s firefighters when he was Mayor of Bucaramanga.

  • “You’re lying,” Hernandez told a local politician during a heated argument in 2018, before slapping him amid insults. The incident led to his suspension as mayor of the provincial city of Bucaramanga.

While Campaigning

  • “Vichada? What’s that?” Asked about Colombia’s second-largest province by area, Hernandez appeared not to have heard of it. Despite this, he won the most votes in the district in the first round of the presidential election on May 29.

  • “Look at me in the face. I won’t let you down.” Hernandez made this address to supporters in a video clip on election day. His words seemed unobjectionable, but Colombians were surprised to see that he wasn’t wearing any clothes, other than a pair of swimming trunks.

While Doing Business

  • “If you continue to p*ss me off, you son of a b*tch, I’ll shoot you.” Hernandez said this to an architect and former client, according to a recording published by Semana magazine last year. In an interview with newspaper El Tiempo, he admitted he had been wrong to utter a threat, but said people had overreacted.

(Adds insult, threat, in final paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

Recommended Stories

  • Russia, rejecting default, tells investors to go to western financial agents

    The White House said on Monday that Russia has defaulted on its international bonds for the first time since the Bolshevik revolution, as sweeping sanctions have effectively cut the country off from the global financial system. Until last week, Russia kept on paying on its Eurobonds in foreign currency as per issue conditions yet its dollar and euro coupon transfers made in May, ahead of a key U.S. waiver allowing for such transactions expired, did not reach investors. "Statements of a default are absolutely unjustified," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a call with reporters on Monday, pointing to the May forex coupon payment.

  • Mr. Big Short: Fed May do a 180 on Interest Rates

    The Federal Reserve has raised the fed funds rate target by 150 basis points since March, and many experts expect a lot more.

  • The Russian Default Is Less Worrisome Than It Appears. Keep Watching Oil.

    Russia’s first default on its foreign debt in more than 100 years is the latest sign that the sanctions levied against the country after the Ukraine invasion have consequences. To be sure, Russia’s default on ruble-denominated bonds in 1998 was a big deal. It forced highly leveraged hedge fund Long Term Capital Management to collapse, a precursor of the financial crisis that struck a decade later.

  • Recession may not be here yet — but stagflation is: El-Erian

    Economists may be debating recession, but there's increasing consensus that stagflation has already arrived.

  • Elon Musk Goes Twitter Silent

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has offered $44 billion to buy Twitter , has been quiet on the social media platform since last tweeting on June 21. Such a long absence from Twitter is unusual for Musk. No one is saying whether he is observing a quiet time to appease Securities and Exchange Commission scrutiny over his propose purchase of Twitter, but that could make sense considering his past run-ins with the regulator.

  • Russia Slips Into Historic Default as Sanctions Muddy Next Steps

    (Bloomberg) -- Russia defaulted on its external sovereign bonds for the first time in a century, the culmination of ever-tougher Western sanctions that shut down payment routes to overseas creditors.Most Read from BloombergRussia Slips Into Historic Default as Sanctions Muddy Next StepsA $2 Trillion Free-Fall Rattles Crypto to the CoreHyundai Quietly Climbs the EV Sales Charts and Elon Musk NoticesMichael Burry of ‘The Big Short’ Fame Warns Fed May Alter CourseJan. 6 Panel Sets Surprise Hearing

  • G-7 Latest: Zelenskiy Tells Leaders Aid Will Be Needed Long Term

    (Bloomberg) -- The war in Ukraine again dominated the Group of Seven summit in the Bavarian Alps as leaders met for a second day of talks. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke to them by video link from Kyiv and said he wants the war to be over by the end of the year, according to officials familiar with his remarks.Most Read from BloombergRussia Slips Into Historic Default as Sanctions Muddy Next StepsA $2 Trillion Free-Fall Rattles Crypto to the CoreHyundai Quietly Climbs the EV Sales Charts an

  • Joe Manchin reacts to Roe v. Wade ruling: ‘I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh’

    Americans reacted on Friday to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion access. In the court’s ruling Friday, telegraphed in a rare court leak, Republican-appointed judges voted 5-4 to overturn Roe v. Wade. Chief Justice John Roberts did not back using the latter decision to overturn Roe.

  • Millions in California to Get up to $1,050 in ‘Inflation Relief’

    (Bloomberg) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom announced late Sunday night that he had reached an agreement with state legislators on a $17 billion “inflation relief package.”Most Read from BloombergRussia Slips Into Historic Default as Sanctions Muddy Next StepsA $2 Trillion Free-Fall Rattles Crypto to the CoreHyundai Quietly Climbs the EV Sales Charts and Elon Musk NoticesMichael Burry of ‘The Big Short’ Fame Warns Fed May Alter CourseJan. 6 Panel Sets Surprise Hearing as New Evidence Emerges

  • Social Security: New Bill Could Give Seniors an Extra $2,400 a Year

    Social Security recipients could get an additional $2,400 a year in benefits if a new bill recently introduced to Congress wins approval -- something seniors would no doubt welcome as surging...

  • The 'Big Package': How Russia was driven to default

    Russia's first major international debt default in over a century, which Washington said became a fact on Monday, follows months of co-ordinated Western sanctions that left Moscow with cash but no access to the international financial network. At around 11.30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Feb. 25, the day after Russian troops entered Ukraine, European Union's experts in Brussels said a set of sanctions they had worked on for days, or the "Big Package" as they called it, was ready. Just before midnight, the European Commission announced https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/02/25/russia-s-military-aggression-against-ukraine-eu-imposes-sanctions-against-president-putin-and-foreign-minister-lavrov-and-adopts-wide-ranging-individual-and-economic-sanctions the measures.

  • Filmmaker who upended Jan 6 probe talks Trump ‘aggression’, what he saw, and how the spotlight has led to death threats

    FILMMAKER WHO UPENDED JAN 6 PROBE TALKS TRUMP ‘AGGRESSION’, WHAT HE SAW, AND HOW THE SPOTLIGHT HAS LED TO DEATH THREATS: Documentarian Alex Holder tells Andrew Feinberg that former president Donald Trump’s family did not seem concerned by the prospect of violence as January 6 approached

  • Robinhood narrowly avoided default in meme stock frenzy, report finds

    Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss the findings from the House Financial Services Committee report on Robinhood's operations during the meme stock frenzy.

  • Donald Trump’s Truth Social app under fresh legal scrutiny

    Humiliation for Putin as Russia defaults on foreign debts What Russia’s debt default means for the world FTSE 100 rises 0.7pc as commodity prices rebound Matthew Lynn: Michael Gove is a one-man economic catastrophe Sign up here for our daily business briefing newsletter

  • Five under-the-radar Democrats who could run for president in 2024

    Joe Biden’s universal name ID helped him win the Democratic nomination in 2020. Voters wanted someone battle-tested and experienced, a familiar face to take on Donald Trump. He reminded Americans he had been in the White House before, knew his way around and could thrive in the highest office on his own. Biden says he…

  • How Democrats can capitalize on a radical Supreme Court

    It's all about gasoline prices.

  • U.S. commerce secretary presses lawmakers to greenlight $52 billion for chipmaking

    U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo on Monday stepped up pressure on Congress to approve $52 billion in funding for chipmakers to expand operations, warning that firms would abandon American expansion plans without the legislation. "Mark my words ... if Labor Day comes and goes and this Chips Act isn't passed by Congress, these companies will not wait and they will expand in other countries," she warned in an interview on CNBC. Both houses of Congress have passed versions of legislation to make the United States more competitive with China that include the chip funding.

  • Griffin Pick Faces Trump’s Choice in Illinois GOP Governor Race

    (Bloomberg) -- The Republican primary for Illinois governor on Tuesday is shaping up to be a battle of billionaires trying to determine the face of the party in a Democrat-controlled state.Most Read from BloombergRussia Slips Into Historic Default as Sanctions Muddy Next StepsA $2 Trillion Free-Fall Rattles Crypto to the CoreHyundai Quietly Climbs the EV Sales Charts and Elon Musk NoticesMichael Burry of ‘The Big Short’ Fame Warns Fed May Alter CourseJan. 6 Panel Sets Surprise Hearing as New Evi

  • G7 Announces $600 Billion Infrastructure Plan To Rival China’s Belt And Road

    U.S. President Biden and G7 leaders have unveiled a new $600 billion infrastructure project in a move to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative

  • DeSantis signs nearly 3 dozen bills, including banning smoking and giving grandparents more rights

    Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed 35 bills on Friday, including a law allowing local governments to ban smoking on beaches and in parks, and vetoed five, including legislation that would have made it easier for businesses to sue local governments over ordinances.