"I ask the world to pay attention to Colombia and help us defend our democracy,” he said, calling for international solidarity and domestic mobilizations to fight back against this dramatic case of anti-constitutional lawfare.

Specifically, the National Electoral Council voted to charge and investigate President Gustavo Petro for alleged violations of the maximum allowable campaign finance caps for legal donations received by his party from teachers' and oil workers' unions that the CNE attributes to the 2022 presidential campaign. This decision represents nothing less than a coordinated attempt to undermine Colombian democracy - criminalizing the political action of organized workers while undermining the Presidency with unconstitutional charges.

Article 199 of the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia clearly states, “[the President] may not be persecuted or tried for crimes, except by virtue of an accusation of the House of Representatives and when the Senate has declared that there is cause for the formation of a case.” Neither of these conditions have been met. This lawfare unleashed by the CNE is patently illegal, violating the Constitution and the clear precedents established by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).

As President Petro declared, “The CNE can never, nor does it have the power to investigate the President of the Republic. This is the beginning of the coup. Comprehensive presidential immunity has been violated and the rule of law and the respect for the popular vote and democracy have been broken.”

Finally, this attack on Colombian democracy is led by an array of highly-compromised agents of the far right.

Álvaro Prada, a CNE magistrate and ally of far-right former president Álvaro Uribe who is now leading the charges against the President, is himself also awaiting trial for suborning witnesses. As a former congressman from Uribe’s party, Centro Democrático, Prada allegedly worked to alter and retract the testimony of a prominent paramilitary so as not to present evidence of Uribe’s extensive paramilitary alliances. Prada resigned his position in Congress in an attempt to avoid trial, but soon his case will nevertheless be heard at the Supreme Court.

The CNE president, César Lorduy, also faces accusations by congresswoman Ingrid Aguirre of using his CNE influence to extort her for sexual favors and financial payments. Moreover, Mr. Lorduy is also implicated in the femicide of Alicia Mercedes Ribaldo, whom he shot in the face with a shotgun when she was just 16-year-old. Lorduy reported her death as accidental. While statutory time limits have expired, witnesses and Ribaldo’s family claim Lorduy threatened to kill Ribaldo before firing at her.

The world must heed President Petro’s call for urgent solidarity in the face of this unprecedented and unconstitutional assault on Colombian democracy.