Mayor’s Flash Is Dashed

While millions of dollars in drug money were allegedly financing President Ernesto’s Samper’s 1994 election, Antanas Mockus won the job as mayor of this nation’s capital after a campaign that cost barely $18,000.

His stature grew as eight members of Congress, two attorneys general and the defense minister were jailed for corruption. Colombians made Mockus the non-politician their political hero. A year into his term, he was the nation’s most popular public figure; most Colombians told pollsters they would vote for him if presidential elections were held then.

But now the mayor is under fire. Anti-Mockus graffiti appears on downtown walls. Recall petitions are circulating.

The problem, Bogota residents say, is that Mockus, 44, can’t keep the potholes filled and that other city services--from the municipal telephone company to police protection--are equally wanting. His supporters worry that unless he pays more attention to running this city, Mockus’ meteoric rise could be followed by an equally dramatic plunge--a free-fall that could harm not just him but the nation.

“The failure of Mockus would kill the chances of independence from the traditional political parties,” warns Carlos Osso, one of the mayor’s few city council backers. “The traditional political class is responsible for what has happened in this country and for the disgraceful state of politics.”

Mockus’ election was a reaction against all that, especially the stunning corruption in the capital administrations in the eight years that mayors have been elected, instead of appointed by the president. In collusion with the city council, mayors handed out contracts and jobs to cronies. One recent mayor spent the last six months of his term in jail on corruption charges.

Mockus, in contrast, is believed to be honest, even by his harshest critics. “In a country where the government has been associated with a small circle . . . whose only objective is to stay in power, the mayor today is the only public figure credibly perceived as being outside that circle,” the respected news weekly Semana has said.

A philosopher-mathematician, Mockus spent two years as rector of the National University--his only experience in public office--where he was best known for “mooning” rebellious students.

His mayoral campaign support came from old friends like Santana and strangers fed up with politics as usual. He spoke to small groups in settings that attracted television cameras. Once, he threw water in his opponent’s face and invited him to respond. Voters loved it. Two-thirds of them cast their ballots for Mockus.

“Antanas is a postmodern politician,” said Pedro Santana, Bogota planning commission chairman. “He was elected mayor because he is an eccentric anti-politician.”

The bearded, sandy-haired, blue-eyed son of Lithuanian immigrants has changed little in office. City council members complain that he refuses to take their calls, much less their advice about appointees. He has brightened the 18th century decor of his office with three-foot stuffed carrots.

While Bogota residents delight in Mockus’ antics, they are less thrilled with how he runs the city. In late June, residents of the working-class Ciudad Kennedy neighborhood protested against him. They demanded better police protection, schools, paved streets and reliable municipal services. “The mayor does not know how to run Bogota,” said Maximo Martinez, a protest leader. “The job is too big for him.”

Mockus argues that he wants his legacy to be profound change in the capital.

“The first [goal] is to increase compliance with the regulations, and the second is to increase the citizenry’s capacity to enforce regulations itself,” he said in an interview.

To that end, Mockus has sent armies of mimes into the streets to reprimand jaywalkers, litterbugs and buses that invade pedestrian walks. “I was impressed to learn that 86% of those polled accepted correction by a mime, “ he said.

Mockus’ reliance on such unconventional responses exasperates many.

Martinez, for example, is furious that the mayor sits on a multimillion-dollar budget surplus. Contracts to build a mass transit line and a sewage treatment plant have expired because Mockus did not act on them.

Darling was recently on assignment in Bogota.

* U.S. REVOKES COLOMBIAN’S VISA

Envoy is accused of ties to drug lords. A6