Roy Barreras se reunió con Daniel Quintero y una senadora del Pacto Histórico para ‘sacar’ a Iván Cepeda de la consulta de izquierda, aseguró Gustavo Bolívar: “No es momento de guardar secretos”

After the National Electoral Council (CNE) ruled against Iván Cepeda’s participation in the inter-party consultation “Front for Life,” several disputes have emerged within the progressive camp among various political representatives.

One notable figure is former senator and ex-director of Prosperidad Social (DPS), Gustavo Bolívar, who voiced his dissatisfaction regarding the registration of the center-left consultation, which includes five candidates, including former senator Roy Barreras and the former mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero.

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In an interview with the digital outlet Palabras Mayores Colombia, the ex-congressman disclosed that he possesses conclusive evidence indicating a meeting attended by Barreras and a senator from the Historical Pact, where the exclusion of Cepeda from the electoral race was allegedly coordinated.

“I will bring this to light because this is not the time to keep secrets. Two or three days before the CNE removed Cepeda and included Quintero, there was a meeting (I owe the apartment, but I have the information, sent to me), attended by (Daniel) Quintero, Roy (Barreras), Gloria Florez, and another individual,” Bolívar reported on the quoted portal.

Additionally, he urged candidates and his former colleague to clarify the reasons behind the private meeting to the public.

“I have the proof, let’s see if they’re capable of denying that such a meeting took place three days prior because the plan was not just to remove Iván Cepeda, but with his departure the consultation would collapse; it was to bring in Quintero, revitalize him so that Roy would not stand alone, thus lending more legitimacy to the consultation,” he explained.

Bolívar’s allegations prompted an immediate response from former ambassador to the UK and current presidential candidate.

On his X account, Roy Barreras dismissed the ex-senator’s claims as “gossip and rumors” and challenged his former Senate colleague to retract the statements, asserting that the meeting never occurred.

“While gossip, rumors, fabrications, and falsehoods feed the warehouses and their owners, I categorically refute Gustavo Bolívar. That meeting did NOT take place. Ask Iván (Cepeda), Gloria (Florez), and (Daniel) Quintero. I challenge him to retract,” the presidential candidate wrote on social media.

He further reiterated that the CNE’s decision against Iván Cepeda stemmed from a judge allegedly linked to lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, the main rival of the progressive candidate in the electoral race.

“What does Bolívar intend? To blame Iván Cepeda for a sort of ‘self-coup’? Two things are absolutely clear: Iván was removed from the consultation planned by a cheating associate of Delaspriella who acted as a ‘co-judge’, despite being disqualified and ineligible! It was an outrage against our consultation and against Democracy,” he remarked.

Nevertheless, he took the opportunity to question Cepeda’s decision to go directly for the first presidential round, arguing that “the intention was to prevent a progressive consultation, leaving the field open for the Uribe consultation to defeat us through W. I will not allow that (…) I call upon the progressive people (who go beyond radical left) to support me in defeating the Uribe consultation on March 8.”

In addition to Roy Barreras, senator and president of Colombia Humana, Gloria Flórez, also responded to Gustavo Bolívar’s accusations, proposing that he present evidence linking her to the alleged private meeting.

She later stated that she had not met with Daniel Quintero in person for several months.

“I challenge Gustavo Bolívar to show supposed proof of a meeting that DID NOT happen. The last time I saw Daniel Quintero was on September 26 during the meeting with all the candidates for the Historical Pact consultation on October 26. And I greeted Roy Barreras last Friday (February 6), when he was leaving the Casa de Nariño,” she commented.

Meanwhile, Daniel Quintero has not commented on Gustavo Bolívar’s allegations.