According to a post on his X profile, the complaint stems from the leader’s persecution of a civilian group with a political identity, an act that is a crime against humanity.

  “Exercising my rights as president and under Colombian law—which incorporates the Rome Statute—the complaint was filed with the International Criminal Court,” he stated.

  De la Espriella’s statements and speeches targeting the progressive sector have been characterized by a confrontational tone ever since his campaign days.   “Gentlemen of the Left, in me you will find a sworn enemy who will do everything in his power to tear you apart,” he once declared while campaigning.

  In his message, Petro also addressed the murders of social leaders and *Pacto Histirico* (Historic Pact) activists James Flor and Maria Ovidia Palechor in the department of Cauca.

  He stated that, in the face of what he described as the emergence of “a new paramilitarism in the area,” the response must be “grassroots organization at the highest level.”

  Palechor, a member of the Yanakuna people, served as coordinator of the Program for the Defense of Life and Human Rights and the Women’s Program of the CRIC (Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca).

  Her recent work notably included supporting the *corregimiento* (rural district) of La Pedregosa—comprising 17 hamlets and a community council—which has been formally declared a Territory of Peace.

  James Flor, for his part—who was also her husband—was a renowned peasant leader whose work was defined by his defense of victims and his advocacy for rural communities.

jdt/car/ifs