The former Colombian candidate Iván Cepeda has warned this Tuesday that he will carry out "peaceful civil disobedience" against the future government of Abelardo de la Espriella if the president-elect does not renounce his US nationality, clarify his alleged links with agencies of that country, and explain his attempts to persecute and extradite the current outgoing president, Gustavo Petro.
Cepeda has maintained that, in order to access US citizenship, De la Espriella assumed "unavoidable commitments and obligations" which, in his opinion, clash with the functions of the Colombian head of state.
"The US citizenship oath establishes an obligation of exclusive loyalty to the constitutional order of that country when there is a conflict with others," he stressed in a statement disseminated on his social media.
"His inauguration will be flawed, without a doubt," stated Cepeda, who demands that De la Espriella clarify whether he has ever collaborated with US agencies such as the FBI or the DEA, alluding to his work as a lawyer for Alex Saab, alleged frontman for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and his known connections with Colombian paramilitary leaders.
"To be the Colombian head of state, guarantor of our sovereignty and, of course, guardian of the Political Constitution. One cannot be an agent of the DEA," emphasized Cepeda, who has also questioned the income obtained by De la Espriella as Saab's defense attorney, after a group of Democratic congressmen alerted the US Government to several irregularities.
"They pointed out that there is evidence that banking and real estate transactions partially financed by Alex Saab could benefit Abelardo de la Espriella and that it is possible that the assets owned by the lawyer in the United States were acquired illegally," Cepeda explains, citing that complaint.
Call for "peaceful civil disobedience" from his voters
For Cepeda, all these elements, along with the explicit support of US President Donald Trump for De la Espriella during the campaign, "show the clear predisposition" of the new Colombian leader to "surrender" the country's national security and legal sovereignty.
As examples, he mentions Colombia's incorporation into the US umbrella of the Shield of the Americas, the detention of Colombian opponents on US territory, and the referral to Washington of "lists of dozens of compatriots to be investigated" in that country, "openly flouting the rule of law and Colombian courts".
"It must be made totally clear and defined, first, that Espriella renounces US nationality and must clarify whether or not he is a collaborator or member of US security agencies. Second, he must fully respect our national security and our judicial sovereignty," he reiterated.
Among his demands, he also includes an end to "all persecution" against Gustavo Petro and threats to extradite him to the United States based on alleged investigations by the New York Prosecutor's Office for drug trafficking offenses, leaked to the press but not confirmed by the US Justice system.
"The persecution of political opponents must cease, and the encouragement of judicialization by the US Department of Justice must stop," Cepeda claims, encouraging his followers to join the "peaceful civil disobedience" that he himself will carry out if these requests are not heeded.
"I call on and invite the millions of voters who placed their trust in me to do the same and, if what I state is not fulfilled, to peacefully disregard any order, provision, or mandate from someone who does not meet the condition of guardian and guarantor of our Constitution," he urged.
"When the law, institutions, or authority come into conflict with moral conscience, the citizen not only has the right but the duty to resist peacefully by refusing to collaborate with injustice, opprobrium, or oppression. That is what we will do, let there be no doubt (...) Let him hear it clearly and take it very, very seriously," Cepeda warned.