Paloma Valencia launched her “total security” proposal this Thursday from Barranquilla. She presented a draft of the first decree she proposes for August 7, the day of the presidential inauguration, if elected, in which she orders the reactivation of arrest warrants against criminals who have been named peace managers as part of those negotiations. “Fugitives, to jail. Those who commit crimes from within, to maximum security and to work. Total security is coming,” she declared. Meanwhile, tensions are rising between center presidential candidates and leftist Iván Cepeda, who only wants to debate with Uribista Valencia and ultra Abelardo de la Espriella. Claudia López has announced that she will ask electoral authorities to organize three one-hour debates with all presidential candidates. “The only one today who continues to censor is Iván Cepeda. So I tell the media: keep organizing the debates and invite us all. If Iván Cepeda goes, very good. And, if not, it will be clear that he is the only one who censors,” she declared. Sergio Fajardo has also questioned the leftist candidate, who is leading in the polls. “If the debate proceeds with censorship and exclusions, it will be a farce, a scenario for polarization and fracture. Colombia is much more than a confrontation between Petrismo and Uribismo, between Petrismo and anti-Petrismo,” he commented in a statement.
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De la Espriella’s movement leads the nomination of jurors for the first round
Defensores de la Patria, the movement founded by ultrarightist Abelardo de la Espriella, leads the nomination of jurors for the first electoral round, with 17,961 registered citizens. The candidate announced this Thursday in a statement highlighting his supporters’ commitment to “monitoring the electoral process” and reflecting “a high level of citizen mobilization and participation.”
According to the count revealed by De la Espriella, the other parties with the highest number of registered jurors are the leftist Pacto Histórico, with 16,460 nominees, and the Uribista Centro Democrático, with 3,394. The small Colombian Democratic Party has 32.
The ultra’s campaign has highlighted that its process “has been driven by citizens seeking to guarantee respect for the popular will at the polls.”
Paloma Valencia launches her “total security” proposal from Barranquilla and promises to reactivate all arrest warrants
Accompanied by former president Álvaro Uribe, Senator Paloma Valencia, the presidential candidate for the right-wing Democratic Center, launched her “total security” proposal this Thursday from Barranquilla. It’s a play on words with Gustavo Petro’s total peace policy, which sought to negotiate simultaneously with all armed groups. At the event, Valencia presented a draft of the first decree she proposes for August 7, the day of the presidential inauguration, if elected, in which she orders the reactivation of arrest warrants against criminals who have been named peace managers as part of those negotiations. “Fugitives, to jail. Those who commit crimes from within, to maximum security and to work. Total security is coming,” proclaimed the opposition candidate, who usually appears behind leftist senator Iván Cepeda in the polls, where she alternates second place with ultrarightist Abelardo de la Espriella. In her government program, Valencia promises to increase spending on security and defense by 20 trillion pesos to bring it up to 4% of GDP.
Claudia López calls for three debates with all candidates: “If Cepeda doesn’t go, it will be clear that he is the only one who censors”
Claudia López will ask electoral authorities to organize three one-hour debates with all presidential candidates. “According to the law, the state’s public communication system must do it. If the problem is that they think there are too many of us, then two groups should be organized by drawing lots. When we want to comply, we want to comply,” she commented in statements to the press after a discussion on childhood. She indicated that she will send the communication along with five other candidates who participated with her in the debate: Luis Gilberto Murillo, Roy Barreras, Sondra Macollins, Carlos Caicedo, and Mauricio Lizcano. All six are lagging in the polls.
The former mayor of Bogotá, in line with Sergio Fajardo, has also questioned leftist Iván Cepeda’s decision to only debate with Uribista Paloma Valencia and ultrarightist Abelardo de la Espriella. “The only one today who continues to censor is Iván Cepeda. So I tell the media: keep organizing the debates and invite us all. If Iván Cepeda goes, very good. And, if not, it will be clear that he is the only one who censors. If he censors as a candidate, I can’t imagine what he would do as president.”
Oviedo says the left sought him out after the consultation: “They would have wanted Paloma not to add 1.2 million people”
Vice-presidential candidate Juan Daniel Oviedo, running mate of Uribista Paloma Valencia, has revealed that a sector of the left sought him out after he came in second in La Gran Consulta with 1.2 million votes on March 8. “They told me: ‘Don’t be tempted, the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá awaits you with open arms.’ They surely had a triumphalist vision,” he recounted in an interview on Blu Radio. He avoided giving names: “I tell the miracle, but not the saint.”
Valencia’s running mate has used the anecdote to reinforce his discourse on what he brings to the Uribista candidacy. “It shows why I am so uncomfortable. The left would have wanted Paloma not to have those 1.2 million extra people, because naturally, a candidacy like Abelardo’s [De la Espriella] serves the left,” he commented. “In a second round, many centrist people will never vote for Abelardo. That’s where one sees the political discomfort of my existence in this conversation.”
The Ombudsman denies having published a report on alleged coercion by armed groups to vote for Cepeda
The Ombudsman, Iris Marín, has refuted right-wing presidential candidate Paloma Valencia, who had asserted in the Senate plenary that the official had denounced voter coercion in favor of Iván Cepeda. “The entity has not published any report or statement that accounts for alleged coercion by armed groups against voters and in favor of candidate Iván Cepeda, nor does it have any information to support it,” Marín clarified through a video and a written statement.
Valencia made this assertion after the official candidate, Iván Cepeda, demanded that she present proof of the coercion she was denouncing. In one of the heated discussions both candidates have held in Congress, which has become the space for deliberation – given the absence of debates in public settings or in the media – the Democratic Center candidate again sowed doubts regarding her opponent’s campaign.
The Ombudsman’s Office requested respect for the entity and clarified that all communications and reports it has issued regarding the electoral process in Colombia “are aimed at ensuring democracy, the quality of the debate, the elimination of political violence in Colombia, and also eliminating disinformation and stigmatization.”
Fajardo criticizes Cepeda for excluding him from his debate call: “It would be a farce”
Center presidential candidate Sergio Fajardo has criticized leftist Iván Cepeda, who is leading in the polls, after Cepeda excluded him from a debate call. “If the debate proceeds with censorship and exclusions, it will be a farce, a scenario for polarization and fracture. Colombia is much more than a confrontation between Petrismo and Uribismo, between Petrismo and anti-Petrismo,” he declared in a statement, referring to the Petrista candidate’s proposal to debate only with ultra Abelardo de la Espriella and Uribista Paloma Valencia. Fajardo celebrated that Cepeda now wants to debate, but pointed out that it is “not acceptable” for him to seek to do so “with censorship of topics or exclusions of political options.” “That would not be a debate, it would be a trap and a deception. And no other candidacy should enter that game,” he noted.
Fajardo has indicated that participation in debates can be decisive in elections. “There are millions of undecided voters among the options presented and millions of Colombians who usually abstain, and a quality debate could bring them together. As well as hundreds of thousands of first-time voters. All of them need debates,” he commented. He insisted that Cepeda cannot curtail his chances of reaching these undecided voters with his center proposal: “Debates are not organized by candidates at their whim, convenience, or discretion. They are organized by the media and/or with the collaboration of electoral authorities.”
Printing of ballots for the first presidential round begins
The National Registry, the governing body for elections in Colombia, begins printing ballots this Tuesday for the first round of presidential elections, scheduled for May 31. The start of printing is due to the need to have them ready to arrive on time at consulates and embassies in Colombia worldwide, which serve as polling stations abroad. In total, there will be boxes for 13 candidates, plus one for a blank vote. If any aspirant decides to withdraw from the contest, their photo will still appear on the ballot, and if there were votes for that candidacy, they would not be counted. The first box is occupied by the official candidate, Iván Cepeda, and his vice-presidential running mate, Aída Quilcué. Next to that box will be an empty space, which was initially occupied by former candidate Clara López, who withdrew her aspiration to join Cepeda’s campaign. Ultrarightist lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella has his box on the left margin of the second row, while Uribista candidate Paloma Valencia is on the right margin of the third row.
Abelardo de la Espriella only considers debating with the frontrunners
Ultraright candidate Abelardo de la Espriella stated this Monday that he is only willing to attend debates with rivals who are leading in the polls, after leftist senator Iván Cepeda, the leader of all opinion studies, challenged him and Paloma Valencia over the weekend to a thorough debate. The two right-wing aspirants alternate in second place, with centrist Sergio Fajardo in fourth. “Here, it’s between the heir of the FARC and the regime, who is Mr. Cepeda, Dr. Paloma Valencia, Dr. Fajardo, and myself. Anything below that makes no sense,” the ultra told Blu Radio. A dozen candidates remain in the race for the first round on May 31. Both Cepeda and De la Espriella have so far been absent from debates, with different arguments. The other centrist aspirant, Claudia López, reacted to the criminal lawyer’s statements. “Abelardo de la Espriella is so afraid of me that the only condition he sets for debating is that I be excluded,” the former mayor of Bogotá wrote on her social media.
Paloma Valencia accepts Iván Cepeda’s debate proposal: “I’m ready, even if he wants to rig it”
The presidential candidate for the Democratic Center, Paloma Valencia, accepted the debate proposed by official candidate Iván Cepeda this Monday. “More than 40 hours have passed since Iván Cepeda’s debate challenge, and he still hasn’t named the representatives. We are ready to hold the debate, even if he wants to accommodate and rig it to his advantage,” said the Uribista candidate. Valencia also assured that Cepeda must explain to the country his positions on the main social issues that concern him. “After that debate, people will notice that Cepeda is not Petro and that the fight for democracy is not against a left, but against a neo-communism that can end democracy in Colombia,” she concluded.
The Minister of Defense offers a reward to prevent attacks against presidential candidates
The Minister of Defense, retired General Pedro Sánchez, reiterated this Sunday that the Government is offering a reward of up to 1 billion pesos (about 270,000 dollars) for information that allows authorities to prevent any attack against presidential candidates.
“All presidential candidates are susceptible to threats. We will spare no effort to protect them and guarantee their security,” Minister Sánchez wrote on his social media. He also referred, in particular, to the threats against Senator Iván Cepeda, the candidate of the official Pacto Histórico, denounced by President Gustavo Petro. “A state intelligence agency, external to the Ministry of Defense, confirmed to me that it has already provided the United States with the available information for its assessment and support,” Sánchez added. He had previously clarified that the CIA had no information on the matter, as President Petro initially stated.
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Paloma Valencia and Abelardo de la Espriella accept Iván Cepeda’s debate challenge: “At least he lost his fear”
Both right-wing senator Paloma Valencia and ultrarightist Abelardo de la Espriella have accepted the challenge from fellow senator Iván Cepeda, of the leftist Pacto Histórico, the leader in all polls, to debate and contrast their proposals. “At least Cepeda lost his fear; we have summoned him to debates several times, but he preferred to hide,” said Valencia. “We are ready for the debate, with an independent moderator and on a channel where all Colombians can see and compare,” added the candidate of the Democratic Center, the party founded by former president Álvaro Uribe. De la Espriella also accepted the challenge. “I am ready: I invite all Colombian media to organize whatever is necessary, since the polls told the coward Cepeda that he cannot keep hiding,” assured the criminal lawyer.
Fajardo responds to Cepeda’s debate challenge: “I am ready”
Sergio Fajardo, the presidential candidate for the political center, immediately responded this Saturday to the statements by Senator Iván Cepeda, leader in the polls, in which he showed himself willing to debate. “Colombia does not need comfortable silences, it needs direct debate,” wrote the former mayor of Medellín, whom Cepeda ignored in his speech, as he only referred to the two right-wing aspirants: Paloma Valencia and Abelardo de la Espriella. “Does that call also include those of us who are not the continuity of the Petro–Uribe polarization?” Fajardo asked in his message.
Iván Cepeda opens up to debate with Paloma Valencia and Abelardo de la Espriella
Senator Iván Cepeda, the presidential candidate of the Colombian left and favorite in the polls, showed himself willing this Saturday to debate directly with both Paloma Valencia and Abelardo de la Espriella, a shift after several months in which his campaign has prioritized public square speeches. “I challenge the extreme right, its two candidacies, Senator Paloma Valencia and lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, to debate on substantive proposals, visions for the country, and models of development and social equity,” said Cepeda, the Pacto Histórico candidate, from Sumapaz, at an event where he was accompanied by both former liberal minister Juan Fernando Cristo and Green Alliance party senator Ariel Ávila, his most recent adhesions as part of the Alliance for Life. “The time has come for us to move from the comfortable exercise that candidate Valencia and candidate De la Espriella have practiced of slandering, insulting, and attacking, to debating in depth,” promised Cepeda, who until now has not attended debates between candidates and was absent this week from the governors’ summit organized by the Federation of Departments. The Pacto Histórico candidate warned, however, that debates must meet previously agreed conditions. “I will not lend myself to the politics of spectacle. The conditions, the agenda, the moderators, and the setting will be rigorously agreed upon,” he reiterated.
A court orders Abelardo de la Espriella to rectify false information about Juan Fernando Cristo
Former minister Juan Fernando Cristo has announced through his social media the decision made by the 18th Civil Circuit Court of Bogotá, which determined that presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella lied about information disseminated to the media regarding him, in which he was linked to the husband of fellow presidential candidate Sondra Macollins.
According to Cristo, who declined his presidential candidacy for the first round and later joined Iván Cepeda’s campaign, lawyer De la Espriella “lied in public statements.” According to the court’s decision, the rectification must be made through the same media outlets in which he made the assertion, or in a video addressed to public opinion.
Paloma Valencia and Sergio Fajardo ask Cepeda to speak out against Petro’s intervention in the elections
Two presidential candidates from the right and political center, Paloma Valencia and Sergio Fajardo, responded to an announcement by leftist candidate Iván Cepeda, in which he rejected the improper political intervention of a vice minister. “I celebrate that he rejects this fact,” Fajardo told him. “But the criticisms of his campaign are not only due to this particular case, but to the blatant way in which President Gustavo Petro and the government are campaigning for him,” he added. “Will he speak out about this or remain silent?”
The right-wing candidate added a critical message in the same vein. “You fool no one, Senator Ivan Cepeda. You have the entire government, starting with the President of the Republic, at the service of your campaign.”
Former President Álvaro Uribe claims that the ELN guerrilla group threatened his candidate, Paloma Valencia
Amid fears of threats, former president Álvaro Uribe claims that his protégé, presidential candidate Paloma Valencia, has received threats from the ELN guerrilla. “The leaders Pablito Arauca and Antonio García are directly responsible for an assassination attempt against Paloma Valencia,” Uribe says. The former president also asserts that in that guerrilla group, “they give the order to vote for Iván Cepeda to impose him as president in the first round.”
So far, there has been no known active pressure from armed groups for a candidate. The ELN is a sensitive issue for Cepeda, as he was a negotiator in the failed dialogue table with that guerrilla group, in addition to being the architect of the Total Peace policy to dialogue with armed groups.
Cepeda demands information from authorities about the possible threat against him
Left-wing presidential candidate Iván Cepeda spoke out regarding President Gustavo Petro’s message on X: the president claims the CIA knows of a possible plan to kill the candidate. “I am going to ask the authorities to inform me in detail about this circumstance,” he said. “But I also want to be extremely clear and peremptory about this: under no circumstances will I abandon my political work, much less the electoral campaign.” The candidate also stated that he has received threats before during his campaign, but has not made them public, “because I do not want to sow alarm or panic in public opinion.”
Iván Cepeda asks that no public servant campaign for him, like the Vice Minister of Information Technologies
The leftist candidate revealed that the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Information Technologies is intervening in the electoral campaign, despite the fact that it is prohibited in Colombia for officials to engage in politics from their positions. “My campaign has learned that in recent days, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies, Andrés López, allegedly participated in a WhatsApp group to promote my electoral campaign,” says Cepeda, who rejects this type of support. “I reiterate my position that no public servant should intervene in political proselytism, in general, and in my electoral campaign activities, in particular,” he adds.
However, the country’s most important official, President Gustavo Petro, has been accused by electoral observers of constantly intervening in the electoral campaign, both to make key party decisions and by speaking about the right-wing candidates competing against Cepeda.
Gustavo Petro: “The CIA already has the real and concrete data of a possible assassination attempt on candidate Iván Cepeda”
President Gustavo Petro shared on his social media that the United States intelligence agency, the CIA, has information about “a possible assassination attempt on candidate Iván Cepeda.” The president responded to a White House message in which Washington said that ‘terrible consequences’ await those who attempt to attack presidential candidates. It was right-wing candidates, Paloma Valencia and Abelardo de la Espriella, who received death threats last Sunday through their social media. The Minister of Interior, Armando Benedetti, expressed his rejection of these and announced measures to guarantee the candidates’ security. The president did not mention the threats to Valencia or De La Espriella on his social media, and today revealed that it is his political party’s candidate, Cepeda, who is threatened by the “extreme right.” He said, without proof, that it is the same extreme right behind the assassination of influencer Charlie Kirk, and the attack Trump suffered when he was a candidate in 2024.
“I thank President Donald Trump for his support for free elections. Remember that the origin of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the one Donald Trump himself received come from the same side: an extreme right that uses the state to kill and death to seek votes,” he said.
Roy Barreras announces this will be his last electoral campaign
Former senator and presidential candidate for the La Fuerza party, Roy Barreras, has announced that this will be his last political electoral campaign. He stated that this does not mean he will withdraw from the race for the Presidency. “What I have said is that it is the last time: I will never be a candidate for anything again,” he announced via his social media. However, he assured that he has a “higher obligation,” which is to try to prevent the country’s division and ensure that the next government is one that generates trust, not fear. He added: “If we succeed, this candidacy will go until June 21,” the date of the presidential second round, which Barreras aims to reach, despite unfavorable poll numbers.
Paloma Valencia from the border with Ecuador: “The first call I’m going to make [in my Government] is to President Noboa”
From the Rumichaga international bridge, connecting Ecuador with Colombia, the Uribista candidate, Paloma Valencia, spoke alongside former president and her mentor, Álvaro Uribe. They traveled to a community affected by the diplomatic crisis between the presidents of the two countries, Gustavo Petro and Daniel Noboa, which escalated to the point that Ecuador will impose 100% tariffs on Colombia on May 1st; a decision that could end cross-border trade. “It is unacceptable that the Government, when warned that if it does not combat drug trafficking, they will impose tariffs on us, prefers to punish merchants and transporters, and the economy of southern Nariño, rather than combat criminality,” said the candidate. Noboa has argued that Petro has not fought illegal groups on the border, and therefore punishes with these new tariffs he calls a security fee. But experts warn that the tariffs he imposes may instead incentivize criminality on the border. While armed groups have strengthened during Petro’s mandate, the tariffs harm legal trade on the border.
“I want to make an announcement: on the first day [of my government], we are going to militarize the Cali-Popayan-Pasto road, so there is no more suffering,” Valencia promised a crowd, if she wins the presidency mid-year. “That same day, the first call I am going to make is to President Noboa, to say that here there is someone to fight narcoterrorism, and that he immediately removes the tariffs to reactivate trade.” She promised a customs office that would streamline traffic, criticized Petro for promoting trade with Venezuela. “We don’t want to be intergalactic leaders, we want to be presidents of Colombia to serve Colombians,” she added.
Above all, she promised to work with the Governor of the border department of Nariño, who is aligned with the Government and has defended Petro’s total peace. Nariño is usually an area that votes left or progressive, but the new crisis with Ecuador has been an opportunity for the right competing for votes. In the afternoon, Abelardo de La Espriella will also speak from the department’s capital, Pasto.
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