Senator Ivan Cepeda, the man who got former President Alvaro Uribe convicted for fraud and bribery, announced that he will be seeking the support of the political left to run for president.
At a small gathering of activists in the Nariño province, Cepeda said that he will take part in the primary of President Gustavo Petro’s Historic Pact coalition in October.
“I put my name at the disposal of the Historic Pact and the Colombian people, without arrogance or conceit, to continue building historic change,” said the Senator.
Cepeda had always been reluctant to join the presidential race, but said that growing pressure on him by victims organizations were “impossible to ignore.”
Profile of Ivan Cepeda
The senator said he decided to join the race after being asked to do so by influential victims rights group Mothers of False Positives Cepeda’s own National Movement of State Crime Victims and “thousands of citizens who have asked me to assume this responsibility.”
The senator’s participation in the Historic Pact primaries also came after weeks of infighting between candidates that seek to get the support of the government coalition.
In fact, the Historic Pact candidates agreed to a “non-aggression pact” the day before Cepeda joined the race, a decision that was celebrated by hundreds of leftist influencers and government supporters on social media.
The senator is arguable the strongest candidate to succeed Petro and secure another four years of leftist rule in Colombia, especially after he secured the conviction of Uribe.
Throughout his political career, Cepeda has been among the most prominent activists for the rights of victims of the armed conflict, particularly those of the state and paramilitary violence that killed his father, Senator Manuel Cepeda, in 1994.
The Historic Pact is expected to hold its primary election in October after which the leftist coalition will seek to secure another four years in the presidential palace and expand its representation in Congress.
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