Background and career
Iván Cepeda Castro (born 24 October 1962) is a Colombian politician, human rights activist, and philosopher serving in the Senate of Colombia since 2014. He is a member of the Historic Pact political party and is a political leader on the Colombian left. He served in the Chamber of Representatives from 2010 to 2014. He is the founder of the Manuel Cepeda Foundation, named after his father, who was assassinated in 1994. He was the Historic Pact candidate in the 2026 presidential election, losing to Abelardo de la Espriella by less than 1% of the vote.
Cepeda was first elected to Congress as a member of the Chamber of Representatives in 2009. He was elected to the Senate in 2014, and was re-elected in 2018 and 2022.
In 2026, Cepeda ran for President of Colombia, receiving 40.90% of the vote and placing second in the first round round of voting to far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella. He lost in the second round to Espriella, receiving 48.70% of the vote, while Espriella receiving 49.66% of the vote.
.jpg?width=480)
.jpg?width=480)
.jpg?width=480)
.jpg?width=480)