Published 05/24/2026 10:09
“Uribismo is fascist, it represents the justification for the worst crimes that have been perpetrated in recent decades in Colombia, not only the massacre of young people, the persecution of indigenous peoples and the contempt for the poor, but also the neoliberal policies that have impoverished millions and, equally, the criminalization of peace dialogues”, said senator Iván Cepeda, candidate of the Historic Pact for president, on Friday night (22), in Bogotá.
Under a sea of flags of multiple colors, bringing together the broad front that gives strength to the changes undertaken by President Gustavo Petro, adding to the continuity of the “second progressive government”, tens of thousands came to Simón Bolívar Square, braving the drizzle and the temperature of ten degrees.
“If you live, feel, Cepeda president”, “Cepeda, friend, the people are with you” and “With Iván Cepeda, the people in power stays (stay)” were the most chanted slogans, amid the defense of the peace policy and enthusiastic cheers for Palestine, Cuba and Venezuela.
Bringing together musicians, activists, party, community and social movement leaders, the “Festival for Life” started at around 3 pm and went on into the night, with significant youth participation. For the first time, I saw a sea of people kneeling to find a lost child. The feat was accompanied by Caribbean dances, hugs and smiles, as if celebrating a goal.
“For the good of all, the poor first”, declared Cepeda, welcoming the “day of celebrations” that goes beyond the celebration of opinion polls, “in which we have always and in all cases occupied first place in voting intentions for nine months”. A strength demonstrated in March “in the popular and citizen power of the Historic Pact, in the streets and at the polls, which elected the largest group in the Congress of the Republic”. “Our fellow president Gustavo Petro enjoys wide sympathy and well-deserved affection for the task he carried out in a brave and effective way in defending the Colombian people and their rights”, he highlighted.
“Alliance for life brings together progressives, liberals and reformists”
“We have patiently put together the Alliance for Life, a solid and diverse coalition of forces that brings together progressives, liberals and reformists from across the political and social spectrum. We have successively covered the country in 117 multitudinous public acts like this one”, he pointed out. Now, he emphasized, “I give you the most cordial call to finish the task with a great triumph at the polls and defeat the extreme right as it deserves”.
“Let’s ensure our triumph, not leaving a single corner of the territory to visit, a single house to visit, a single message to send, a single window without a poster, a single wall without our paintings. Let the progressive wave be felt throughout the country and that on May 31, the most important thing: let’s organize the electorate to mobilize to the polls in a massive and forceful way and let us watch until the vote count is finished”, called on Iván Cepeda.
“Álvaro Uribe’s macabre false positive strategy”
The candidate asked everyone to “collectively reflect on the political and cultural meaning of the triumph we will obtain”. “A few days ago, in Antioquia, a group of young people and mothers of victims carried out a cultural act of peaceful expression (2002-2010) about the crimes committed under Álvaro Uribe’s governments. They painted a mural to claim the memory and dignity of the thousands of young people who were murdered, tortured and disappeared as part of the macabre strategy of false positives and the military takeover of Comuna 13 in Medellín.” [A maior incursão militar da história do país ocorreu nos dias 16 e 17 de outubro, ordenada por Uribe, mobilizou mais 1.500 policiais e soldados, acompanhados por grupos paramilitares encapuçados, deixando dezenas de mortos, mais de 80 feridos, cerca de 500 desaparecidos, civis enterrados clandestinamente em valas e áreas de aterro].
At that moment in Antioquia, he highlighted, “no debates were held, mothers and young people did not call for hatred, they did not promote revenge. Simply, as they did with infinite patience and perseverance for decades, they exercised the power of truth in the face of impunity and silence… To this peaceful act of memory, the response of Uribe and his fanatical followers was anger, threat, physical violence and insult. In the midst of their fury, unable to tolerate the truth, which comes back again and again Once, to challenge his exercise of bloodthirsty power, Uribe called me a murderer and, listen carefully, “Apache”. This is not an innocent phrase, a product of casual excitement. No, sir.
“When someone uses a term associated with structural racism to disqualify another person, it reveals the depths of their political thinking and their total lack of morality. And that is where Uribe showed us his true face, where the Colombian extreme right is shown in all its splendor. A project that, even invoking democracy in its speech, retains within itself essentially authoritarian and racist rays”, he indicated.
“Fascism starts genocides, as we saw in Gaza”
“Fascism, listen carefully, fascism begins genocides… When, as we saw in Gaza, with pride and supposed superiority, it refers to others as inferior. When it begins to work the idea that there are human beings who are superior to others and that it is licit to dump and discard the lives of hundreds of thousands or billions of human beings. That is fascism, ladies and gentlemen. Uribism is fascist. It represents the ideology of contempt for all components of other human beings”, denounced Cepeda.
For these reasons, Cepeda reiterated that “we must walk alongside the people, alongside social struggles, with the people, by the people and for the people. The central axis of our program is and continues to be repairing the great damage that the neoliberal model has caused for decades. Our program is to build opportunities and prosperity for the entire nation.”
“Our program seeks to eliminate poverty, overcome social inequality, end hunger, unemployment and maintain a decent minimum wage. Provide drinking water, low-cost electricity for everyone and not just for large cities, invest in basic infrastructure and public works for the well-being of communities. Build public universities in rural territories and regions, on urban outskirts, so that young people, peasants, indigenous people and Afro-descendants from popular communities can have access to quality higher education. Recognize the economy of care and give decent labor guarantees for all women in the country”, he highlighted.
“We will celebrate alongside our companion Petro”
The triumph of this June 1st will be celebrated alongside our fellow president Gustavo Petro, he indicated, “where we will carry out a much deserved national tribute, to be able to tell him that we are proud to have been led by his leadership. And then, we will begin our second great march, which is our new progressive government. A march that, as my formula companion and future vice-president Aida said, will be the great effort for social transformations in Colombia, so that they are irreversible. My name is Ivan Cepeda and I will be your president in the first round”, he concluded, with dozens of protesters responding “it’s first, it’s first!”.
A reference in the Colombian and Latin American indigenous struggle, Aída Quilcué, who had her husband murdered by the Army in December 2008, when he was on his way to pick her up from a United Nations mission in Geneva, thanked everyone for their commitment.
“I want to say that this political project is advanced and we have grown in the dignification of many of our rights”, said Aída, giving a special salute to the workers who were tireless in the fight for labor reform. “In this government, one of the most important rights has materialized, which is the minimum wage. We have advanced with the pension reform for those who worked and dedicated their lives to the country, but also for a basic income for the elderly, and we will advance further”, he committed, defending increased attention to youth, “because they are our children and they fought, and they are part of this Colombia, the present and the future, which will continue building this country’s political project”.
“We will continue walking. This political project has no setback. You can put any obstacles in front of us, you can do whatever you want, but here there are a people who have become aware today. We are in the time of the people, of women, in the time of Mother Earth and we will fight for her. My name is Still Quicé and I will be your vice-president”, he concluded amid strong emotion and applause.
The manipulation of the hegemonic media
This Saturday (23), the panic fear of bankers, transnational corporations and landowners with the continuity of the progressive government, overflowed the headlines of the main newspapers, which tried to hide the massive demonstration in Bogotá: “Sergio Fajardo [direitista] and Paloma Valencia [uribista] had coffee in Barranquilla: the conversation ended without an alliance agreement” (El Tiempo}; “The AtlasIntel research that they wanted to silence: Abelardo de la Espriella [bilionário] is practically tied with Iván Cepeda and would beat him in the second round by more than eight points” (Semana); “A strong but divided right reaches the polls” (El Nuevo Siglo”; “What will the candidates do in relation to security, armed groups and the Peace Agreement? Petro’s promise of total peace has become one of the main points of contention in the 2026 presidential campaign” (El Espectador) y “National strike of 2021: the open wounds of social revolt” (Cambio).
__
This coverage by Agência Comunica Sul de Comunicação Collaborativa was only possible thanks to the support of the Bank Workers Union of São Paulo; Writers’ Union of the State of São Paulo; newspaper Hora do Povo; Red; Global South Dialogues; Citizenship Mail; Baron of Itararé; councilor Werner Tempel (PCdoB) of Santa Maria-RS; Professor Azuaite, from São Carlos-SP; Instituto Angelim, in addition to several anonymous collaborators.
Source: vermelho.org.br