That institutional silence feeds the sense of impunity
Two campaign workers were killed by armed men in Meta on Friday while collecting electoral materials; their deaths remain unsolved with no arrests. Campaign claims documented threats with identified phone numbers and recorded content, alleging government silence enables criminal organizations to target political opposition.
- Rogers Mauricio Devia and Fabián Cardona killed in Meta on Friday while collecting electoral materials
- No arrests made; investigation status unclear
- Campaign reports documented death threats with identified phone numbers across multiple regions
- De la Espriella and Iván Cepeda polling at 85% combined likelihood of runoff matchup
Campaign of Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella reports new death threats against regional coordinators, two days after two campaign members were assassinated in Meta department.
Two days after armed men intercepted and killed two campaign workers on a rural road in Meta, the presidential campaign of Abelardo de la Espriella issued a new alert on the evening of May 17th. The campaign reported fresh death threats targeting coordinators across multiple regions of the country. The threats, the campaign said, were not rumors or speculation. They had phone numbers attached. They had been recorded. They were documented.
Rogers Mauricio Devia and Fabián Cardona were killed on Friday while collecting electoral materials. They were part of De la Espriella's ground team in Meta, a department in central Colombia. Armed men stopped them on the road and shot them. No one has been arrested. No investigation has been publicly announced. The campaign's citizen movement, called Defensores de la Patria, which backs De la Espriella's bid for the presidency, saw the new threats as a direct consequence of that silence.
"That institutional silence is what feeds the sense of impunity that now translates into new threats against our people," the movement said in a statement. The campaign demanded that the Attorney General's office open an immediate criminal investigation into the threats, trace the phone numbers, and activate legal protections for the people whose names and addresses had been shared with whoever was making the calls. They asked the national police to deploy security details immediately. They reminded the government of its constitutional duty to protect the lives and property of all Colombians, including those participating in electoral campaigns.
The campaign also appealed to the Ombudsman's office, the Procurator General, the National Protection Unit, and international human rights organizations and election observers to activate surveillance and protection mechanisms. The situation, they argued, represented a grave risk to campaign coordinators and volunteers. Violence and intimidation could not be allowed to become tools for silencing legitimate political projects in the middle of democratic competition.
The campaign made clear it had collected evidence: screenshots of messages, call logs, and other materials that could help identify those responsible. They said they would make all of it available to authorities. They would not stay silent. They would not treat what was happening as normal. And they insisted that the authorities had an obligation to act.
De la Espriella and his main rival, Iván Cepeda, are polling at roughly 85 percent combined likelihood of facing each other in a runoff. The violence targeting the campaign, and the apparent lack of institutional response, raises questions about whether electoral competition in Colombia can proceed safely, and whether the state has the will or capacity to protect candidates and their teams from organized threats.
Notable Quotes
These threats are not rumors or speculation. They are documented facts with identified phone numbers and recorded content.— Defensores de la Patria, the citizen movement backing De la Espriella
That institutional silence is what feeds the sense of impunity that now translates into new threats against our people.— Defensores de la Patria
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would someone target campaign coordinators specifically, rather than the candidate himself?
Because coordinators are visible, accessible, and often working alone in regions far from the capital. They're the face of the campaign on the ground. Killing them sends a message without the international attention that harming a major candidate would bring.
The campaign says the government's silence is itself a message. What do they mean by that?
They're saying that when two people are murdered and nothing happens—no arrests, no visible investigation—criminal organizations read that as permission. They see that the state isn't responding, so they escalate.
Is there evidence these threats are coming from a single group, or multiple actors?
The campaign hasn't said. They've documented the threats and identified phone numbers, but they haven't claimed to know who's behind them. That's partly why they're demanding the Attorney General investigate.
What's the political significance of De la Espriella being targeted this way?
He's polling to face Iván Cepeda in a runoff. If violence can suppress one candidate's campaign operations, it changes the race. It also tests whether Colombia's democratic institutions can protect electoral competition from organized violence.
Has the government responded to any of this?
Not publicly, as far as the campaign is concerned. That's the complaint—the silence itself. The campaign is calling on multiple agencies to act, but there's no indication yet that they have.
What happens if the threats continue and nothing changes?
The campaign says it won't be silenced. But realistically, if coordinators keep being killed or threatened and the state doesn't respond, people stop showing up to campaign events. The campaign's ability to organize shrinks. That's the effect the violence is designed to achieve.