"Who is it? Who is it?": He campaigned in disguise with an elephant costume - and was elected to the Senate in Colombia
Luis Carlos Roa, 34, was sworn into the Colombian Senate wearing a white elephant costume. He ran his election campaign under a hidden identity and revealed his face only three days before the election. Roa won about 124,000 votes and became one of the most popular senators in the country. He focuses on fighting expensive and abandoned public projects and promotes a law to fix potholes on roads, named after his father.
Luis Carlos Roa, 34, was recently sworn in as a member of Colombia's Senate alongside 101 other senators, wearing a giant white plush elephant costume. Roa conducted almost his entire election campaign under a hidden identity, revealing his face to the public only three days before the election, allegedly to protect his personal safety. The white elephant character represents his fight against expensive and unnecessary public projects that remain abandoned or useless—a cause he has pursued over the past five years through viral social media exposés. The original character was designed by an illustrator and specially sewn by a seamstress, and his first video was published in November 2021 against the backdrop of an unfinished road. His public activity began in 2019 while working at the Pereira mayor's office. During his work, he was exposed to improper political pressures exerted on employees to secure votes, and he leaked recordings documenting these acts to the press. Following death threats, he was forced to leave his city and move to Medellín, where he decided to continue exposing corruption anonymously. In his videos, Roa documented neglected bridges, schools, tunnels, and hospitals. The videos garnered hundreds of thousands of views and even led to the revival of some stalled projects. He financed his travels across the country through freelance work, selling plush toys of the white elephant, and crowdfunding. Eventually, he decided to run for the Senate to use his salary to continue his oversight work. In the election, Roa won the support of about 124,000 voters and became one of the most popular senators in the country. He received votes in almost all of Colombia's approximately 1,100 municipalities—an achievement that political commentators attribute to public fatigue with traditional politics and the growing power of social media. Roa clarified that he does not identify with the left, right, or center, but considers himself completely independent. Accordingly, in the second round of the presidential election, he cast a blank ballot, supporting neither leftist candidate Iván Cepeda nor the far-right millionaire lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, who won the election. One of the main legislative initiatives Roa is currently promoting is a law that would require local authorities to allocate a dedicated budget for fixing potholes on roads. The law is planned to be named after his late father, Darío Roa, who died in 2024 at age 85 following a fall on a neglected, pothole-filled street. Despite his declaration of political independence, Roa has already faced criticism for his support of moving the presidential inauguration ceremony from Bogotá to Cali. Critics view the move as a waste of public funds contrary to the principles he fights for. Roa defended his decision, arguing that it symbolizes the state's presence in a region historically neglected, and that the ceremony's cost would be lower than previous inaugurations. Roa promised to continue closely monitoring the new government and that the white elephant costume will continue to accompany him at particularly significant events.