Bogotá.- The wave of violence in southwestern Colombia, which has left at least 19 civilians dead after a guerrilla attack with a cylinder bomb on the Pan-American Highway, moved to the campaign for the presidential elections on May 31, with a crossfire of accusations between the main candidates.
The bomb attack perpetrated on Saturday in the El Túnel sector, in the municipality of Cajibío, department of Cauca, and attributed by the authorities to dissidents of the former FARC, has fueled the political debate on the armed conflict and peace just 36 days before the presidential elections.
The candidate of the ruling Historic Pact, Iván Cepeda, condemned the attack and expressed his “most energetic rejection” of what he called acts of barbarity against the civilian population, but also stated that there is a “legitimate concern” about whether these events seek to generate a climate of fear that favors far-right sectors in the midst of the electoral process.
“It is deeply concerning that these terrorist actions are presented in regions of the south of the country where there is broad citizen support for our political project,” Cepeda said on social media.
Criticisms of the “total peace”
From the opposite side, the candidate of the right-wing opposition party Centro Democrático, Paloma Valencia, rejected Cepeda’s interpretation and accused him of diverting attention, while maintaining that the “total peace” policy of President Gustavo Petro has failed and is responsible for the deterioration of public order.
Una persona observa, este 26 de abril de 2026, el lugar donde ocurrió un atentado en la Vía Panamericana en Cajibío (Colombia). EFE/Ernesto Guzmán
«The country does not deserve that attention be diverted by insinuating that this seeks to favor political sectors. The time has come to assume, in no uncertain terms, that total peace has failed,» Valencia replied to Cepeda on X.
Petro’s “total peace” policy includes dialogues with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas that did not come to fruition, as well as negotiations with FARC dissidents and the submission to Justice of gangs such as the Clan del Golfo, the largest criminal organization in the country, without tangible results so far.
In the same vein, far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, from the Firmes por la Patria movement, asserted that the recent violence is a direct consequence of that strategy and proposed a “frontal war, without truce or negotiation” against illegal armed groups.
“These are not isolated acts. They are part of a destabilization plan by Petro’s misgovernment and his accomplices,” the candidate expressed in a statement published by his campaign.
A “Weakened” State in the Face of Violence in Colombia
For his part, Sergio Fajardo, from the center party Dignity and Commitment, expressed his solidarity with the victims and stated that “Colombia is bleeding again”, while considering that the government’s security policy has weakened the authority of the State and requires an urgent review.
Former President Iván Duque (2018-2022) also joined the criticism, assuring that the recent events reflect “the consequences of a policy of appeasement” which, in his opinion, has weakened security and reduced the offensive capacity of the State, while expressing his support for the public force.
The attack in Cajibío occurred amidst a wave of violent actions in the southeast of the country, where in recent days attacks with bomb cylinders were also perpetrated against military units in Cali and Palmira, in the department of Valle del Cauca, which left no victims.
Also on Saturday, a radar of the Civil Aeronautics was attacked in Cerro Santana, in the municipality of El Tambo (Cauca), all these events attributed by the Army to the different groups that make up the Central General Staff (EMC), the main dissident group of the FARC, led by Néstor Gregorio Vera, alias Iván Mordisco, the most wanted man in Colombia.
