He President Gustavo Petro called on the Colombian people to mobilize this Friday, October 24, in the Plaza de Bolívar, Bogotá, to begin collecting signatures for the call “constituent power“, after learning of the acquittal of former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez by the Superior Court of Bogotá and after the new ‘impasse’ with its American counterpart, Donald Trump.
The president, through his social networks, launched strong criticism of the North American president, pointing out that he supported political sectors “allies with drug trafficking” and seeking to impose international sanctions against the Colombian Government.
“The time for definitions has come, and the one who defines is not Trump, it is the people”, stated the head of state, urging his followers to “fill the Plaza de Bolívar” to begin collecting the signatures of the constituent power.
(Further: Carlos Eduardo Mora sentenced to 21 years in prison for the murder of Miguel Uribe).
Bolivar Square
The president considered that the aforementioned judicial ruling “repeats history” and seeks to “cover up paramilitary governance” in Colombia. In his words, “The Superior Court of Bogotá repeats history, contradicts the Supreme Court and affirms that interception is privacy. This is how the history of paramilitary governance in Colombia is covered”.
He also maintained that the court’s decision contradicts the line of the Supreme Court of Justice and represents a setback in the search for truth about the alliances between politics, drug trafficking and paramilitarism.
(You may be interested in: ‘In Colombia the State has been abused a lot’).
The call was answered by Unitary Central of Workers (CUT) of Colombiastating that they will accompany the event on October 24.
“We want to accompany President Gustavo Petro in his expressions; next Friday, October 24, in the Plaza de Bolívar, here in Bogotá, saying ‘No’ to North American aggression. Yes, there must be justice in Colombia, and ‘Yes’ to democracy“, mentioned the president of the CUT, Fabio Arias.
Acquittal to Álvaro Uribe
He Superior Court of Bogotá In the second instance, it acquitted former President Álvaro Uribe for the crime of bribery in criminal proceedings, while revoking the initial conviction for procedural fraud.
According to the ruling read by the Magistrate Manuel Antonio Merchán: “It was not directly or indirectly proven that Álvaro Uribe had instigated the crime of bribery in criminal proceedings (…) therefore, the Chamber will revoke the sentence imposed on Álvaro Uribe Vélez as a determiner of the crime of bribery in criminal proceedings”.
(We recommend: ‘This is how the history of paramilitary governance is covered’: Petro on Uribe’s acquittal).
The superior court of Bogotá repeats history, contradicts the Supreme Court of Justice, and affirms that the interception that a Supreme Court magistrate judicially made of a criminal, where Uribe’s voice appears talking about bribes, is privacy.
That’s how… https://t.co/2j3unJm2eL
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 21, 2025
The case involved alleged pressure on members of the witness process, including the former paramilitary Juan Guillermo Monsalvewho had pointed him out for links with the Metro block of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
The court concluded that the original ruling incurred “methodological errors, interpretive fallacy and biased assessment of evidence (…) when constructing inferences about its functional organization and fraud without objective support”.
He also noted that the application of the concept of “possible fraud” in the first instance ruling did not comply with the requirements of the figure of “determiner” of the crime, which requires direct intent.
PORTFOLIO
