Senator Iván Cepeda (62 years old, Bogotá), one of the most visible political figures at present, ensures that his decision to launch himself as presidential candidate was already taken before the recent conviction against Álvaro Uribe Vélez. His decision to aspire to the presidency marks the way to the first round of May 2026. After more than a decade of litigation against the former president and leader of the right, he achieved the conviction of his adversary in the first instance and a few weeks later he formalized his aspiration. “Out of respect for the process, I did not make a numerous decision in the midst of the trial,” he says, and then warns that his campaign to get to the House of Nariño will be the continuity of the government of his partner Gustavo Petro.
From the room of his house in northern Bogotá, populated with crafts, the congressman reinforces that there were several human rights organizations, which he has been close for decades, which asked him to put his name for consideration. “If I had not decided to launch me, I would have disappointed many social sectors,” admits with its characteristic monochord and serene tone. Four years ago, when the left drawn the strategy that ended in a sound victory, he rejected that same request. “It was time of Gustavo Petro.” Now he considers that his has arrived. In conversation with El País, the candidate of the historical pact exposes its flags, analyzes the political moment and refers to the opposition they will face at the polls: “the right is lost.”
Ask. A few weeks ago, you said that being a presidential candidate was not your aspiration. What made it change?
Answer. The requests of the social movement and victims that led me to that determination, which, already taken, I will develop with all the enthusiasm, dedication and the possible energy. I would not have launched if I had not finished the trial against Álvaro Uribe, the two activities were incompatible.
P. Did President Petro directly ask him to be candidate?
R. No, but we have spoken. It is a decision that I consulted. In 2022 it was proposed to face me in a consultation with him, but I was aware of his journey and merits, so I didn’t even consider it. Now it is inescapable. Every political leader comes to him, and I have been able to verify that, not to throw me, I would have frustrated people who are very important to me, fundamentally the communities with whom I have worked my whole political life.
P. The inclusion of the former mayor of Medellín Daniel Quintero in the consultation has produced tensions. What is your position?
R. His participation is a reality: welcome to the debate. I am not a friend of discussing differences in public. Not because we have something to hide, but because we must not facilitate the work to our political adversaries. In addition, in general, I try to avoid fighting. I have tried to make cohesion, that of the left and of all social sectors, my political goal. I think it is fundamental and it was what gave us the victory in 2022.
P. But do you share the concern of former senator Gustavo Bolívar for having an applicant who is criminally charged in a corruption case?
R. If Quintero meets the legal conditions to be a candidate, he can do so. Now, as a result of Bolívar’s proposal, the Ethics Committee of the Historical Pact must analyze all aspirations and decide if they continue.
P. Getting to the general political reality, how does the Petro government evaluate?
R. The first thing is that he has made a real alternation for the first time in Colombia in political power without the debacle that some announced, such as the supposed breakdown of the institutional and constitutional order. None of that has happened. The Courts work in their independence and also the Congress, with all its problems.
P. How do you imagine a leftist government in 2026?
R. The basis of my political approach is the program of this government. The first thing is that it would start from the lessons learned from this government. By announcing my candidacy I stated that I would like to listen carefully to social organizations, citizens, even the opposition. There are some obvious shortcomings, such as corruption and scandals such as Olmedo López in the Risk Management Unit. I am not a friend of demagogy, to say “there will be zero corruption” in a state as corroded as ours, but there must be a very clear and preventive effort to attack it. That said, there will be continuity of the good, which I do not think it is little.
P. What would it highlight?
R. Sometimes the motto “Government of Change” is ridiculed, claiming that nothing has changed. But this government has delivered more hectares of land to peasants than any other. Nor can it be ignored that greater respect for human rights has been achieved. Of course, there have been episodes of violation of them, but not massacres, extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances. Economic management has been exemplary with an outstanding qualification. They are successes that did not have those who ruled before and said we were going to leave the economy in ruins. They left her in ruins, we are rebuilding her.
P. Several applicants stir the security flag. You have been a great defender of the total peace policy, which the president points out that it is a goal that was not fulfilled. What place have peace and security in your proposal?
R. There is no total peace in Colombia or anywhere in the continent. It is deeply demagogic and ideological to propose that the resurgence of violence is the result of a peace policy, when in the last 20 years we attend an emergency of transnational organized crime networks. Drug trafficking has been globalized and income for illegal gold, which belong to a global market, are superior to that of drug. That is why countries that did not have such serious crime phenomena, such as Ecuador, face security crisis. That does not excuse or explain everything that happens in Colombia, of course.
P. But then will it keep the total peace?
R. The peace policy has had deficiencies, problems, but it has also had advances. To make it clear, I will maintain peace efforts in a broad sense, with a policy, understand that it is necessary to transform the territories and not simply carry out the dialogue tables. This government has already tried to make strategic alliances not to replace only crops, but all illegal economies.
P. Specifically, what to do with the ELN?
R. Insisted on the agenda that was agreed in Quito in 2016. In this government one of its points was closed, the others are to be developed. That dialogue was suspended by the bloody attack of the ELN in the Catatumbo. It would be necessary to see how to resume.
P. How to address groups that do not show the will to negotiate, such as the EMC of Iván Bite, whom the president points out as a terrorist?
R. The groups represented by Mr. aka Nibble They have had an aggressive action, they have even attacked and tried to submit social organizations to the tip of violence. A dialogue with those who have that attitude is very difficult and I will not boost it at all costs. We will have to analyze and prioritize. The bill of submission appears when anyone is going to make a speech as punitive and demagogic as possible without thinking how to save lives that, in my way, are the fundamental objective of a peace policy.
P. How do you see the opposition?
R. I see her lost. The right has wanted to resurrect the security debate, which although it is fundamental in large cities and in many rural territories, it is not what people ask. Colombians first think about social reforms, issues that the right focuses from a supremely petty perspective. In addition, the Democratic Center has the weakness of being a caudillista party in which, if the boss does not dawn well, the entire community suffers.
P. Don’t you feel that there is petrist caudillismo on the left?
R. No. I think the president’s figure is preponderant, but we don’t have that problem. I see a significant amount of leadership, which can perfectly replace that of the president. There are conditions to look for relay.
P. His political life has revolved around justice and the case of Uribe is the most recent and most colorful event. Will it be the axis of your campaign?
R. There are unavoidable debates. But, beyond whether political confrontation will be an extrapolation of the legal scenario, a seal of my political personality is the search for justice. If citizens would grant me their support, it would promote a reform so that there is more justice. It is necessary to develop justice to counteract violence, corruption, the evils of Colombian society.
P. Do you think that relations with the United States, with facts such as officials from officials to Uribe’s conviction, will they influence the campaign?
R. If they tried to find an interference in our judiciary, we would have some kind of episode. It is proven that in Colombia the Judiciary makes decisions in law and in no way it is permissible that a congressman, and even a Secretary of State, sets accusations as irresponsible as those we hear. I would like to know if any of those politicians who spoke in the United States have read judicial decisions.
P. How would you raise the relationship with Trump’s government?
R. As this government has done, maintaining procedures and agreements. Of course, you will have to see how Trump’s government policy develops to Latin America and Colombia in particular. The situation in Venezuela is worrisome, because it is entering a dimension that can be dangerous for Colombia, for Venezuela, for the United States itself.
P. And with Maduro?
R. As they have been so far. With criticism, but with diplomatic, economic and border relations that Colombia must have with its neighbor. In the Government of Iván Duque, the terrible consequences of ideologizing them and not having economic relations were demonstrated, not allowing the free movement of people, not having any bilateral cooperation against violence. It was a catastrophe, especially for the 12 million people living on the border.
P. A recent column by Patricia Lara indicates that the difference between Petro and you are that you have the controlled ego …
R. I am very honored by the opinions that I have heard around my candidacy, but I do not enter those comparisons. I know we have different styles with President Petro, but in no way I am going to fight to be better or more virtuous.
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