WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : ABSENTEE VOTERS?

The World Cup had just been placed on a pedestal by former U.S. soccer Olympian Jim Fox, and the firecrackers for this opening ceremony were making it the Fourth of July in the Arroyo Seco around the Rose Bowl.

All eyes drifted from soccer’s Holy Grail, the Cup, being projected upward about 20 feet by some sort of hydraulic device that made it look like a rocket at ignition, to the north rim of the bowl, where the fireworks had reached their crescendo and were leaving a heavy cloud of smoke.

And then, near the top of the smoke, flew the airplane, towing a sign that said: “1+1: Andres Presidente.”

It was political campaigning at its opportune best. Today is election day in Colombia, and one of the presidential candidates is Andres Pastrana.

One discussion among the Colombian press had to do with how this soccer game would impact on the election.

Some speculated that the politicians involved were all hoping for a tie game, because a victory or a loss might trigger a long night of either reveling or mourning in Colombia. And that might have a direct impact on voter turnout today.