Colombia Senator Iván Cepeda files criminal complaints against President and Agriculture Minister

Colombian Senator Iván Cepeda has announced criminal and disciplinary complaints against President Abelardo de la Espriella and Agriculture Minister Indalecio Dangond. During a political control debate in Congress, Cepeda alleged a model of ‘narcorrentismo’, claiming state institutions are being co-opted by an alliance of criminal capital, land ownership, and armed violence.

Cepeda presented documentation to support claims that the current administration is conducting a ‘counter-agrarian reform’ by stalling land restitution to peasants and facilitating the return of confiscated properties to drug trafficking and paramilitary networks. He specifically highlighted the appointment of 14 officials in the agricultural sector with prior professional or business ties to the De La Espriella Lawyers firm or Minister Dangond.

The senator also raised concerns regarding the President’s business connections, alleging links between the company Dominio De la Espriella and the family of Hugues Manuel Rodríguez Fuentes, known as ‘Comandante Barbie’, a convicted drug trafficker. Cepeda intends to take these allegations to the House Commission of Investigation and Accusation, as well as to authorities in the United States.