Tomás Uribe, Álvaro Uribe's son, denounces a strategy to remove his father from the political scene in 2026.

Less than two weeks before Judge Sandra Heredia announces the ruling against Álvaro Uribe, the former president's son, Tomás Uribe Moreno , published a statement in which he asserts that his father is the victim of a political strategy to "neutralize" him judicially in view of the 2026 elections. According to Tomás Uribe, the leader of the Democratic Center would seek to participate in a presidential ticket as vice president .

According to Tomás Uribe's statement, the legal case against the former president—who faces possible charges of witness tampering—is a political calculation aimed at eliminating a key opposition figure from the electoral process. "Álvaro Uribe is the only leader who can unite the democratic opposition," the statement states, suggesting that his eventual legal disqualification would benefit the current ruling parties.

"The accusation was driven by two prominent politicians from the Petro and Santos governments and architects of Santos's surrender to the FARC: Eduardo Montealegre, Petro's current Minister of Justice and former prosecutor in the Santos government; and Senator Cepeda, educated in the Soviet Union, political leader of the FARC, a senator under the Petro regime, and a key figure in Santos's surrender to the FARC and the de facto legalization of drug trafficking," it reads.

The document also warns that "the trial was based on manipulated evidence and discredited testimony. More than 60 witnesses denied knowing Uribe or having received offers from his lawyers. The key witness, Juan Guillermo Monsalve, presented an edited spy watch recording, as confirmed by a prosecutor's expert . His father and brother denied this under oath."

Furthermore, he points out that the alleged bribe order attributed to Uribe stems from an illegal wiretap of Uribe's phone during the Santos administration, in the midst of the 2018 election campaign, when Uribe was leader of the opposition. "That call occurred more than a month after the alleged bribe offer, which makes it impossible for him to have ordered it," he maintains.

And he concluded: "Petro and Santos are seeking to neutralize him judicially before 2026, aware that his participation, especially as vice president, would be key to defeating them."

This isn't the first time the former president's possible participation in the 2026 elections has been discussed—it's a proposal made by Abelardo de la Espriella—but there are doubts about whether he could run as a candidate. Within the Democratic Center, the possibility of the former president heading a Senate ticket has also been mentioned.

Former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez stated that the trial against him "has been induced by the current government, by its most representative senator (Iván Cepeda)."

After 67 days of hearings, the trial against former President Álvaro Uribe ended last Tuesday with a request that he be declared innocent of the three crimes the Prosecutor's Office accuses him of. This is considered the most important criminal case in the country, given that a former president is the defendant.

Juan Pablo Penagos Ramirez