Green Party presidential candidate Antanas Mockus confirmed in an interview with W Radio Friday that he has Parkinson’s disease, but stressed that the condition will not affect his mental capacity.
“There is a diagnosis of the beginnings of Parkinson’s and there is a prediction that this does not affect mental capabilities; thoughts, creativity and knowledge function perfectly,” Mockus explained.
The former Bogota mayor said that “everything is under control” and asked the Colombian public “to understand that this a disease that compromises the physical and not the mental.”
Mockus added that the medical prognosis is that he will have “12 or more years of normal life, thanks to medication.”
The Green Party candidates announcement follows the release of a poll Thursday that shows that he has overtaken Conservative Party candidate Noemi Sanin as Colombia’s second most preferred presidential candidate.
Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative neurological disorder that often affects motor skills, speech, and physical functions.
Colombia’s presidential elections will take place in May this year.
