Influential voices from Colombia’s left have urged Senator Ivan Cepeda to run for president in 2026.
In a video, Senator Wilson Arias and Representative Alfredo Mondragon of the coalition Pacto Historico party said that they signed a letter in which they asked the leftist senator to take part in their party’s primary.
We have signed a letter to Ivan Cepeda, in which Colombians ask him to be the presidential pre-candidate for the Historic Pact. With the excellent pre-candidates we already have, Ivan would complete the best winning lineup for 2026.
Wilson Arias and Alfredo Mondragon
Victims’ rights group Mothers of False Positives (MAFAPO) also published a video in which they urged the senator to run for president.
From Mafapo, we tell Ivan Cepeda and the entire country: this is the time to take a big step, because Colombia deserves a president who doesn’t kneel before the powerful, who governs with the victims and not over them, and who makes justice and equality the center of his mandate.
Mothers of False Positives
MAFAPO consists of women whose husbands, brothers, and sons were assassinated by the military and falsely presented as guerrillas killed in combat during the government of former president Alvaro Uribe.
Cepeda played a crucial role in jailing Uribe for bribing witnesses and obstructing justice.
We have walked for years seeking justice for more than 6402 young people who were killed and illegitimately presented as conflict casualties. Ivan Cepeda has stood by our side when few dared to.
Mothers of False Positives
“I am especially grateful for this request from the mothers who are victims of ‘false positives.’ Their voice is crucial to me. I will seriously consider their call when making my final decision,” said the senator on social media platform X.
Cepeda is the son of former Senator Manuel Cepeda, who was assassinated in 1994 during the political genocide of the left-wing party Union Patriotica.
The senator started his political career documenting testimonies of victims of paramilitary and state violence in the early 2000s. He later co-founded the Movement for Victims of State Violence (MOVICE).
In 2010, Cepeda was elected to Congress, where he became one of Uribe’s most powerful adversaries.
In 2012, the senator led a debate in which he showed evidence of Uribe’s ties to the Medellin Cartel and alleged ties to the paramilitary organization AUC.
Uribe sued the senator, falsely claiming that Cepeda was bribing witnesses to incriminate the former president and his family.
The Supreme Court of Justice absolved the senator in 2018 and formally accused Uribe of bribing witnesses to sustain his bogus accusations against Cepeda.
This ultimately led to Uribe’s 12-year sentence and surged Cepeda’s popularity among leftist politicians and alleged victims of the former president.
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