Left tries to judicialize second round in Colombia

Leftist presidential candidate Iván Cepeda announced this Thursday (11) that he will present complaints against De la Espriella to the Colombian Attorney General’s Office and the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to information from the agency EFECepeda accuses his right-wing opponent of alleged links with paramilitary groups and mentions crimes such as aggravated criminal association, terrorist financing and illicit enrichment.

The left-wing representative’s offensive comes at a time favorable to De la Espriella in the polls. According to a recent survey carried out by AtlasIntel together with the Colombian magazine Weekthe right-wing candidate appears ahead in the dispute in this second round, with 52.2% of voting intentions, against 44.5% for Cepeda.

De la Espriella also finished the first round ahead of Cepeda. On that occasion, he obtained 43.7% of the votes, against 40.9% for Cepeda, who is an ally of President Gustavo Petro. The second round in Colombia is being marked by strong polarization.

De la Espriella reacted to Cepeda’s accusations and stated that the facts mentioned by his opponent had already been investigated in the past. In a video published on social media, the right-wing candidate called the complaint an attempted political attack and accused Cepeda of having worked for years in favor of guerrilla groups, such as the FARC and the ELN.

De la Espriella’s campaign has been the target of controversial court decisions in Colombia in this second round. Recently, a court in the country even banned the right-wing candidate’s campaign from using the national team’s shirt in events, but the measure was overturned by another court, which considered the restriction disproportionate.

The candidate was also prevented from using national and slogans with the word “homeland”. The Superior Court of Bogotá recently ordered the removal of advertisements featuring the Colombian flag and banned expressions such as “Firmes por la Patria” and “Defensores de la Patria”, used by its campaign.