The decision of Senator Iván Cepeda Castro to participate in the internal presidential consultation of the historical pact has given a new air of illusion to the campaign of the Colombian left. Cepeda was the last candidate of progressivism in announcing his intention to participate in the electoral contest, which will be held on October 26, but is already one of the favorites. His decision was held in unison by the different social democratic, liberal and radical left sectors that make up the movement led by President Gustavo Petro. In his first speech as a candidate, from Pasto, Nariño, to the south of the country, Cepeda also defined himself as “a human rights defender, survivor of political genocide, son of a senator of the patriotic union killed by his commitment to the rights of people.”
Cepeda (Bogotá, 62 years old) will face at least six recognized figures from the contemporary Colombian left: former senator Gustavo Bolívar, Senators María José Pizarro and Gloria Flórez, and former minister Susana Muhamad, Gloria Inés Ramírez and Carolina Coro. There is still no certainty of the participation of the former mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero, which generates a lot of resistance in the bases of progressivism. In the consultation, the coalition of 10 parties and movements also plans to choose its candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives. In parallel, these communities seek that the National Electoral Council support its unification in a single party, to get together and strong to the elections of the first semester of 2026.
Cepeda’s decision revitalized a campaign plunged so far in intestine among the candidates, and has been praised even by his opponents. The former minister Muhamad expressed in his account of X the joy of competing with him. “The arrival of Senator Cepeda as presidential candidate gives height to the debate and reaffirms the unit.” The former senator Bolívar, who has led the intention to vote of the consultation in the surveys, also recognized the importance and trajectory of the new applicant. He referred to Cepeda as an authentic and tireless fighter of the progressive cause.
Politicians of sectors more towards the center also praised the participation of Cepeda. Roy Barreras, former Colombian ambassador to the United Kingdom and presidential candidate for his own party, wrote a message on his social networks: “The consultation of the pact grows in number and meaning with Iván Cepeda. A man from the authentic left, an austere, honest and brave defender of peace.” Guillermo Rivera, from a more distant center to the left, highlighted the virtues of the congressman. “As a Democrat, I am glad that Cepeda is aspiring to the presidency of the Republic. Its life history, its commitment to human rights and peace, in addition to its extraordinary personality, enrich the political debate.”
These reactions are the result of a life in which loyalty has prevailed to principles above political opportunism. No one in the great democratic left coalition of the qualities of Cepeda, of his commitment to the most needy or his serene mood, which has allowed him to build respectful relationships even with many adversaries. The new candidate, who aspires to collect the support that led President Petro to power, reiterated that he will maintain those same respectful ways in the campaign. “I will not appeal to hatred, or mockery, or the dehumanization of the opponent. It will be a campaign of dialogue, with the people of the common, with my adversary and adversary politicians. I will not respond with insults, personal attacks or defamatory campaigns,” he said.
That decision to avoid dirty campaigns that predominate in an increasingly polarized policy can be attractive to those who seek a debate of ideas and not attacks. “I am very excited to think that there is a person like Cepeda who can carry the reforms forward in a prudent, leisurely, with a spirit of unity and very large call ability,” said the renowned writer Laura Restrepo. The actress and influencer of the left Margarita Rosa de Francisco joined the praise: “I greatly celebrate the arrival of the senator to the precautionary picture of the pact. A person of his ethical and intellectual size will give even more height to the debate, which is what we need.”
Social movements and victim organizations also endorsed their commitment to Cepeda’s candidacy. The group of mothers of the false positives or the organization of peasants of the Catatumbo, among many groups with leadership and recognition on the left, thanked Cepeda the decision of presenting themselves to the presidency. “For many years we have felt your care, your protection and your support. Thank you Iván. You are also a victim of the violence of this country. And together we will bring peace and justice. We are ready to walk by your side,” Soacha’s mothers wrote.
On the contrary, on the right the aspiration has been received with hard attacks, to which the senator has refused to respond. The candidate Victoria Dávila wrote in an X message: “already in Colombia they chose president of the M-19, now they cannot be elected president of the FARC”, in veiled reference to the candidacy of Cepeda. The councilor of Bogotá, of the Democratic Center, Daniel Briceño, insisted on the questions. “I do say it without tibiezas: Mr. Iván Cepeda is the FARC candidate.” That accusation, without fundamentals, has been the speech that has insisted the Colombian right for years. Now, after Cepeda brought former president Álvaro Uribe to trial, those aggressions have intensified.
That reaction marks that it can be an obstacle on the path of Cepedida to the Presidency: he is such a characterized man from the left for which it can be difficult to grow in other political sectors. That will be seen as a campaign progresses in which, in any case, there is first the internal definition of the historical pact. The spirit and ideas of Cepeda’s candidacy are well summarized in a fragment of the speech that he pronounced in Pasto, before thousands of followers: “It is not enough to transform the material conditions of living. We need a real ethical revolution, a revolution of consciousness, which begins in the deepest worthy and returns the ability to imagine and build a fair, supportive and peace country. ”
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