By Andrea Jaramillo and Andreina Itriago | Updated on Jun 11, 2026 at 05:46 PM
Colombian presidential candidate Iván Cepeda said he will seek criminal charges against his opponent Abelardo de la Espriella over allegations he received funds from illegal armed groups.
Cepeda accused conservative lawyer De la Espriella of ties with leaders of the right-wing paramilitary group known as the AUC, which demobilized two decades ago.
De la Espriella “was funded by and funded paramilitary groups, and it remains to be clarified whether he was part of that structure,” Cepeda said in a livestreamed press conference, adding that he’ll make his denunciation both to Colombia’s attorney general as well as the International Criminal Court.
In a post on X, De la Espriella dismissed the allegations as a “smoke screen”, which were made following denunciations of his own against Cepeda.
Leftist candidate Cepeda, an ally of President Gustavo Petro, will face De la Espriella in a June 21 runoff. An AtlasIntel poll published by Semana magazine Wednesday showed De la Espriella with 53% support ahead of the vote, compared with 45% for Cepeda.
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