Piedad Córdoba accepts Gustavo Petro's decision to remove her from the campaign: political committee

On the morning of this Wednesday, April 20, the presidential candidate for the left-wing coalition Pact Histórico, Gustavo Petro Urrego, asked Piedad Córdoba, an elected senator of the same collective, to suspend her campaign activities while solving her judicial problems.

“I ask Piedad Córdoba to suspend all its activities within the campaign, until it can resolve, hopefully, favorably, the legal syndications made to it,” said the aspirant Petro through his Twitter account.

According to the newspaper El Tiempo, the decision of the Historical Pact would be motivated by alleged visits to prisons such as La Picota Prison, where his brother Álvaro Freddy Córdoba is being held, and by a letter that reached the campaign by a group of prisoners presided over by the condemned paramilitary Hector Germán Buitrago, alias Martín Llanos, in which they called for 'social inclusion'. The letter would have reached the community through Cordoba itself.

Social media and the other presidential candidates broke out following the public request of the former mayor of Bogotá, but Córdoba has not published anything about it. The last post that the senator-elect made through her Twitter account was, precisely, a message of congratulations to the presidential candidate, who turned 62 this Tuesday, April 19. Cordoba attached a photograph of both of them and expressed “all my appreciation and admiration” to the senator.

The decision was not consulted with the senator-elect before Petro made the announcement, according to RCN Radio. For that reason, the candidate declared herself surprised. However, the head of debate of the Historical Pact, Alfonso Prada, had pointed out to the media that this Wednesday they would refer to the letter and the role of Córdoba in the campaign, with the results already known.

However, the political committee of the Historical Pact shared a statement on the case. Firstly, he pointed out that the ethics and guarantees committee of this community will assume the internal investigation into the problems of Piedad Córdoba, “within the framework of respect for due process and ongoing legal investigations.” The senator-elect had already accepted this investigation, which was announced while she was still campaigning.

Secondly, although it was taken by surprise, “the commission has received the request and acceptance of this procedure by Dr. Piedad Córdoba”. The document closes by saying that it “reaffirms and demonstrates a commitment to transparency and probity of its leaders, and will examine any other cases that arise”.

The questions against the former presidential candidate have had her in the eye of the hurricane since mid-2021. For example, he was linked to being alias Teodora, one of the guerrillas of the extinct FARC guerrillas that would have made it difficult for several abductees to free as today's presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt.

The accusations date back to 2008, after the Colombian Army bombed the camp of alias Raúl Reyes, located on the other side of the border with Ecuador, where several computers and USB were found with e-mails in which the former guerrilla chief and Córdoba allegedly exchanged information, identifying herself under Theodora's alias.

In addition, his campaign to return to the Senate is also under investigation, as he is accused of receiving support from private entities. “On news rumors that seek to involve me in this new encampment, I reiterate that I have not received funding from deprived of liberty for my election campaign. I demand that the Prosecutor's Office respond to the right of petition on investigations and prosecutions against me,” Cordoba wrote on April 16 on Twitter.

Another of the congresswoman's problems in Colombia has to do with her alleged ties with Alex Saab, one of the noted frontmen of the Nicolás Maduro regime. For these alleged crimes, the Supreme Court of Justice investigates her. A 125-page text, which was delivered by two Ecuadorian deputies to the Attorney General's Office, the Colombian Congress and Iván Duque's office, would reveal suspicious movements and private flights of politicians who met with Saab, including Piedad Córdoba.

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