The Colombia Briefing | 6th July

🗞️ Opposition leader Iván Cepeda has called for civil disobedience if President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella does not renounce his dual citizenship.

Cepeda argues that De la Espriella’s US citizenship is an affront to national dignity, and that the obligations imposed by dual citizenship are incompatible with the exercise of the Colombian presidency. De la Espriella was naturalised as a US citizen in 2023, having living in the country for several years, a ceremony at which participants are required to swear an oath of ‘absolute and total’ loyalty to that country.

In his statement, Cepeda also called for clarification as to whether De la Espriella is a collaborator or agent of a US security or intelligence agency, and referred to the President-elect’s ‘close links’ to paramilitaries and drug traffickers as well as ‘credible accusations of criminal behaviour’ on his part.

Cepeda, who lost to De la Espriella by one percentage point in last month’s presidential run-off election, has further warned that the latter’s presidency poses a threat to sovereignty as well as the rule of law in Colombia.

Since making the statements, Cepeda has defended peaceful civil disobedience as a means of resistance against decisions which violate the Constitution or fundamental rights, saying, “We will not obey decisions that go against the people, and I will be the first to defy them.”

A legal petition to prevent De la Espriella from becoming President on the grounds of his US citizenship was rejected by the courts last month on the grounds that the Constitution does not disqualify presidential candidates with more than one nationality, demanding only that one of those nationalities is Colombian.

🗞️ Meanwhile, political transition continues to gather pace following Abelardo de la Espriella’s election victory last month, amid allegations of irregularities from both sitting and incoming governments.

Though barely begun, this political transition is already tense, with both sides alleging overstepping and irregularities in the handover. De la Espriella’s approach to transition has been described by his own team as a ‘Noah’s Ark’, and he this week announced an official team of lawyers tasked with investigating the outgoing government, which he has dubbed ‘the most corrupt government in our entire history’.

The details of the handover are currently under negotiation, with both sides setting criteria for the transition period. The government’s official handover coordinator, Germán Avila, warned this week that the current government would hand over ‘neither more nor less’ than the law demands, and that there would be no ‘co-government’ or power-sharing prior to the precise date of the expiry of the current mandate — the 6th August.

And more ministers for the incoming government were announced this week: Miguel Gómez Martínez will be Finance Minister, Iván Cancino will be Justice Minister, Viviane Morales will be Education Minister, Jorge Mora will be Defence Minister, and Fabio Arjona will be Environment Minister. It was announced last week that Rodrigo Lara will be Interior Minister.

🗞️ Peace negotiations between the government and the armed group Clan del Golfo have deteriorated this week, as President Gustavo Petro has reactivated the US extradition order for the group’s top commander, alias Chiquito Malo.

The Colombian government had suspended that order during peace negotiations, which had advanced to the point of discussing temporary relocation zones (ZUTs) for members of the group, though the plan was never implemented.

However, Petro announced that, if captured, the man is to be immediately extradited to the US, where he faces charges of so-called ‘narco-terrorism’, citing the group’s lack of real commitment to peace.

Incoming Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara also announced this week that there is no possibility of continuing talks with Clan del Golfo under the incoming government. Abelardo de la Espriella has made it clear that he will not be negotiating with armed groups in the way that the current government has done, and last week gave them one month to submit to justice.

In other security news, the President-elect has announced the creation — via executive decree on the day of his inauguration — of a new ‘Urban Defence Security Bloc’, sparking fears of a resurgence of paramilitarism due to the similarities between De la Espriella’s proposal and the Convivir and Self-Defence (autodefensas) groups of the civil conflict.

🗞️ More trouble for the ‘Total Peace’ policy as the Council of State has suspended the resolution authorising talks with the Segunda Marquetalia, a FARC dissident group with which official negotiations had yet to begin.