Bogotá .- The leftist former presidential candidate Iván Cepeda announced this Friday that he will not attend the inauguration of Colombia’s president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, on August 7, considering that it will lack “political and ethical legitimacy” due to his “close” relationship with the United States.
“De la Espriella may take office as President of the Republic, but he will not have political and ethical legitimacy as President of the Republic just because of that formal act,” stated Cepeda in a statement to the media three days before the installation of the new Congress, in which he will lead the opposition from his seat in the Senate as head of the Historic Pact caucus.
In addition to maintaining that he will not attend De la Espriella’s inauguration ceremony, who holds U.S. citizenship, he said he will promote a strategy of “civil disobedience,” which he defined as a “public, peaceful, non-violent, and conscious” action, although he did not provide details on the actions he will call for.
The senator maintained that the president-elect and his political circle are “handing over control of our national security to the United States government” and linked that accusation to the meeting held on Thursday in Washington by the vice president-elect of Colombia, José Manuel Restrepo, with the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
The visa restriction imposed by the U.S.
Yesterday, the State Department announced visa restrictions for members of groups it identifies as “far-left terrorists” and other affiliated groups, a measure that seeks to prevent the entry into the country of people who finance, recruit, or facilitate terrorist or criminal activities.
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Cepeda interpreted that initiative as the beginning of a new security doctrine that, in his opinion, seeks to persecute the political and social left, criminalize protest, stigmatize non-governmental organizations and migrants, and justify human rights violations in Latin America.
The former candidate also reiterated his criticism regarding the detention and subsequent deportation from the United States of Colombian activist Franklin Humberto Coral Garrido, known as Beto Coral, asserting that it was a case of political persecution which he attributed to the president-elect.
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“I have no doubt that this arbitrary decision corresponds to an action and a request from Mr. De la Espriella,” said the leftist senator.
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Coral returned to Colombia on Thursday, a month after having been detained in Arizona by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
