The former presidential candidate of Colombia Iván Cepeda presented this Friday in Barranquilla a "Cabinet of Life" with which he intends to oppose "from reason" the policies of Abelardo de la Espriella, hours before he assumes the presidency in Cali.
Before hundreds of attendees, he explained that this "cabinet" will have the task of "controverting with solid arguments and information the policies of" the far-right Executive that will take office this Friday.
At the same time, he emphasized that this opposition aims to "advance and deepen to the maximum in the social reforms that we will not allow to be taken away from the people." "We will not respond to hate with hate, nor to authoritarianism with violence. We will respond with the strength of reason, with citizen mobilization, with popular organization, and with hope," the senator indicated.
"The peaceful civil disobedience that begins to express itself today constitutes a democratic response to what we consider a serious threat to the Republic. It will be a disobedience inspired by the Constitution, by the principles of non-violence, and by the unwavering defense of human dignity," he affirmed, supported by deputies of the Historical Pact.
During his speech, Cepeda insisted that he does not recognize the legitimacy of De la Espriella to lead the country, arguing that he will be "an agent at the service of the interests of the United States," which, in his opinion, represents an "insurmountable incompatibility" with the obligation to represent the sovereignty and interests of Colombia.
"The oath he will take in a few hours is an act that will protocolize the submission of our independence to the will and domination of the government of the United States," he added, recalling the elected president's ties to Alex Saab, of whom he was a lawyer, and to paramilitary groups.
The former presidential candidate, who has claimed the achievements during the term of the outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has warned that De la Espriella's project constitutes a "real threat to the foundations of democracy in Colombia," for which he has called on citizens to "defend life, democracy, justice, equity and the social reforms achieved, the culture of diversity, national sovereignty, respect for human rights, nature, and water."
"Nothing that has been achieved would have been possible without the collective will of a people who decided to believe that Colombia could be different. Nothing that has been achieved will we allow to be lost. We will fight to the limit and beyond, to guarantee and expand the rights of the Colombian people," he has stated.
"Today marks the end of a phase. But the history of transformations does not stop here or now. The achievements we have made were achieved with the people, belong to the people, and it will be the people who defend them, preserve them, and take them even further," he has maintained.
Cepeda delivered this speech in Barranquilla, a few hours before the inauguration of De la Espriella as president of Colombia in Cali, an event that neither Petro nor the former candidate of the Historical Pact will attend.