Political Violence on the Rise Ahead of Elections

Colombia’s political terrain has been marked by surging violence, with multiple candidates and their teams reporting death threats, as the killings of Devia and Cardona,both linked to de la Espriella’s campaign—were described as a potential threat to democratic participation ahead of the election. De la Espriella. Who polls at over 20 percent. Has positioned himself as a populist leader similar to El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei; the attack occurred in an area contested by groups including FARC splinter factions and other armed groups labeled as terrorists by the U.S. government.

Interior Minister Armando Benedetti stated that investigators do not yet know the motive behind the attack. He also noted that police recently thwarted an attack on a campaign staffer for center-right candidate Paloma Valencia in the same region. The violence has been attributed in part to dissident rebel groups that have refused to honor the 2016 peace agreement between the government and the FARC, the largest leftist rebel group at the time.

Elections Feature Diverse Field with High Stakes

Fourteen candidates are registered for the May 31 presidential vote, with left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda leading the polls at between 37 and 40 percent. Cepeda has pledged to continue the policies of current President Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first leftist leader, who has championed a negotiated peace with armed groups. Polls show de la Espriella in second place with over 20 percent support, followed by Senator Paloma Valencia on the center-right.

Three candidates have reported receiving death threats, and all leading contenders travel with heavy security. In 2023, Cepeda’s vice-presidential running mate, Indigenous activist Aida Quilcue, was briefly kidnapped by a FARC dissident group. In 2025, Miguel Uribe, a presidential hopeful, was shot during a rally in Bogotá and later died from his wounds in August 2025.

Historical Context of Political Violence in Colombia

The recent attacks are part of a broader pattern of political violence in Colombia. Leftist candidate Aida Avella survived an assassination attempt in 2014, her fourth such attempt since the late 1980s. Avella, a leader of the UP (Alternative Indigenous Participation) party, returned to Colombia in 2013 after nearly two decades in exile following an earlier assassination attempt in 1996. Her party was disbanded in 2002 after a political extermination campaign by members of the now-defunct AUC paramilitary organization and security forces, which killed thousands of members, including two presidential candidates.

Avella condemned the 2014 attack on social media, calling for Colombians to express their outrage and support for democratic rights. The UP party’s president, Omer Calderón, stated that the attack was aimed at undermining the peace process and the right to political opposition. He emphasized that without protections for political opponents, democracy cannot exist in Colombia.