A Colombian court overturned the conviction of former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, ending one of the most polarizing chapters in the country’s recent history and shaking the Colombian political scene just seven months before the presidential elections.
The Bogotá Superior Court ruled that Uribe was unfairly convicted in a case involving witness bribery and obstruction of justice. A lower court had sentenced the former president to 12 years of house arrest in a historic decision that made him the first Colombian head of state to be convicted of a crime.
Uribe, 73, remains one of Colombia’s most divisive figures. To his supporters, he is the steadfast leader who saved the nation from collapse through his harsh military campaign against Marxist rebels such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). With the conviction overturned, Uribe could serve to unify and strengthen the country’s conservatives, as the opposition searches for a candidate for next year’s presidential elections.
FREE LIST
10 small caps to invest in
The list of stocks from promising sectors on the Stock Exchange
Although constitutionally prohibited from running again for president, the court’s decision ensures that Uribe will continue to play an important role in national politics. Analysts suggest he may seek a seat in Congress to strengthen the right-wing bloc and influence the direction of the next administration.
“This decision will benefit him because he can return to the streets,” said Pedro Viveros, a political analyst based in Bogotá. “Álvaro Uribe is a figure who knows how to take advantage of the electoral process and boost his political sector.”
The court’s decision also coincides with a sharp deterioration in relations with the US, a long-time ally in Colombia’s anti-rebel and anti-drug war. Current President Gustavo Petro and his ideological counterpart in the US, Donald Trump, have repeatedly clashed since the beginning of Trump’s second term, and the American president announced on Sunday that his country will cut off all foreign aid to the Andean nation following Petro’s criticism of recent US military action in the Caribbean.
Continues after advertising
It was during Uribe’s administration between 2002 and 2010 that Plan Colombia, a billion-dollar U.S. military and foreign aid initiative to support Colombia’s fight against drug cartels and leftist rebel groups, made significant progress against the long-running insurgency, although it had mixed results in combating coca cultivation and cocaine production.
Similar to the Trump administration’s critical response to former President Jair Bolsonaro’s criminal conviction in Brazil, the US has criticized Colombia over the Uribe case, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemning what he called the “weaponization of the Colombian judiciary.”
However, many Colombians also see a controversial past — a two-term president whose legacy is tarnished by alleged ties to right-wing paramilitary groups and the so-called “false positives” scandal, which involved the army killing civilians and then falsely identifying them as guerrillas to inflate rebel casualty statistics.
President Petro harshly criticized the decision, saying the court “covered up the history of the paramilitary government in Colombia” and accused Uribe and his allies of links to drug trafficking. He also claimed that Trump was now “pursuing sanctions” against him with the help of those who previously “helped paramilitarism” in the country.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
