BOGOTA: Philosopher-turned-politician Ivan Cepeda, who made his first public appearance following his father’s assassination by paramilitaries, is decades later running for president of Colombia — one of two candidates in this weekend’s runoff election.
Losing his parent, a communist senator, proved life-changing politically as well as personally for Cepeda, who was in his thirties at the time of the killing.
Standing in front of a bullet-riddled truck in 1994, his call for justice was televised.
“Let this crime not go unpunished,” Cepeda told reporters in a measured tone, during a period of persecution that saw more than 5,700 leftist leaders killed.
His political mentor and then-presidential candidate Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa was also assassinated.
