Colombia’s President Petro Exposes Disinformation Campaign Targeting Iván Cepeda Amid ‘Hondurasgate’ Scandal

Original article: Audio falso, cárcel y campaña sucia: Petro denuncia operación de desinformación contra Iván Cepeda y apunta al “Hondurasgate”

The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, raised serious allegations on Sunday regarding the initiation of a disinformation campaign aimed at undermining the electoral campaign of Iván Cepeda, the presidential candidate for the Pacto Histórico movement. He linked this operation to the ‘Hondurasgate’ scandal, which involves a political and media cell affiliated with Trumpism, funded by Honduran government structures to destabilize progressive governments throughout Latin America.

This controversy erupted following revelations in late April 2026 from the Hondurasgate platform, along with Diario Red América Latina and Canal Red América Latina, regarding a series of audio recordings in which former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández—who was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in late 2025—coordinates with current President Nasry Asfura and others to establish a network funded with $350,000, including contributions from Argentine President Javier Milei and Israel.

The recordings provide details on the formation of a communications team intended to launch media attacks and generate pressure campaigns against the administrations of Petro in Colombia and Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico, as part of a broader strategy to politically reposition the far-right in the region.

Fake Audio, Prison, and Dirty Campaigns

President Petro’s allegations include the distribution of an audio file in which a man, posing as a dissident from the FARC, violently demanded that farmers vote for Cepeda in the upcoming elections on May 31.

The supposed guerrilla threatened rural inhabitants of the Guaviare department with either imposing payments or expelling them from the area if they did not comply with the armed group’s directives.

Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez Suárez reported that, according to police investigations, the audio was recorded and sent from Tolima prison and is not linked to illegal armed groups.

Investigations suggest the individual responsible is someone identified as alias Sergio or David, currently incarcerated at the La Picaleña penitentiary in Ibagué.

“This audio comes from an extortionist who is held in the Ibagué ‘Picaleña’ High-Security Prison and has no relation to any criminal group, whether from dissidents under the criminal alias Calarcá or the criminal alias Mordisco,” Sánchez explained at a press briefing.

Petro Denounces ‘Crime Against Elections’

In light of this scenario, Petro has called for “Justice to investigate” what he labeled as a “crime against elections.”

“The massive lie constructed from prison to portray a candidate as being supported by illegal groups must be thoroughly clarified,” he expressed in a message shared on his social media account, linking this disinformation strategy to the ‘Hondurasgate’ scandal.

“It is an operation from the ‘Hondurasgate’ financed by (Benjamín) Netanyahu and drug trafficking to destroy the progressives in Mexico and Colombia,” he asserted.

Iván Cepeda Calls for Clarification of Events and Rejects Any Pressure on Voters

Following the release of the fake audios, Iván Cepeda, who currently leads the polls for the presidential elections, rejected any links with illegal armed groups and urged authorities to investigate the events, as reported by TeleSUR.

“I categorically and vigorously condemn any form of pressure on voters,” he stated, while assuring that neither his campaign nor the Pacto Histórico condones such actions or supports any form of criminal structures.