Colombia has just experienced the closest presidential election in its recent history. But, as Omar Rincón points out, understanding what happened requires looking beyond the numbers: it is a contest over the styles, tones, and narratives that shape public discourse.

Rincón describes this phenomenon as “yopitalism”: a politics of the self, of entertainment, and of emotional capitalism, in which the ability to provoke, entertain, and evoke emotions can carry more weight than ideologies, government policies, or even the facts themselves.

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This discussion aims to reflect on how these political narratives are constructed, why they manage to connect with broad sectors of the public, and what challenges they pose for democracy and civil society in Latin America. The conversation will also explore what tools social movements and civic organizations have to respond without resorting to either a defensive reaction or the imitation of the very logic they seek to challenge.

Speaker: Omar Rincón is a professor at the Universidad de los Andes, a researcher, essayist, and Colombian critic specializing in entertainment culture, communication, and politics. His work analyzes the intersection of popular culture, the media, and power, with a particular focus on how contemporary political leadership is constructed through narrative, emotion, and digital platforms.

Moderator: José Luis Sanz, journalist.

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