Colombia Ex-Senator María Fernanda Cabal Quits Uribe’s Party After 12 Years

COLOMBIA · POLITICS

Colombia’s former senator María Fernanda Cabal has left Centro Democrático, the right-wing party founded by former president Álvaro Uribe. She announced it in a live broadcast on social media on Thursday evening, 1 October 2026.

Cabal, one of the best-known voices of Colombia’s hard right, plans to present a political movement of her own on Saturday. She holds no seat in Congress, so no votes change there; the stakes lie in the 2027 regional elections.

Why she left

Cabal says she first tried to leave in an orderly way. On 4 August she filed a formal request to split from the party, known in Colombia as an escisión.

She wanted “an institutional, respectful and democratic exit” that would let both sides handle what she called doctrinal differences. “I waited for an answer because I considered this the right path,” she said, as quoted by El Tiempo.

“To this day I have not received it,” she added. “Not acknowledging receipt is also an answer,” she told viewers, according to Caracol Radio.

She also argued that the party’s base is right-wing, but that its ideas had blurred, particularly in the last campaign. “I feel there is a natural prejudice against the word ‘right’ on the part of President Uribe,” she said.

Colombians keep the title of president for life, and Uribe governed the country from 2002 to 2010. He remains the founder and best-known face of Centro Democrático.

A career inside Uribe’s party

Cabal spent 12 years in Congress with the party’s backing, four in the lower house for Bogotá and eight in the Senate. On 10 June 2026 she gave up her Senate seat, about six weeks before the term ended.

“I leave with the pride of being the most-voted woman for the Colombian Congress, and proudly right-wing,” she told the Senate. El País of Cali reported the farewell speech.

The rift began over the 2026 presidential race. Centro Democrático picked Senator Paloma Valencia as its candidate over Cabal and Paola Holguín.

Valencia finished third in the first round on 31 May. The right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella won the June runoff and took office on 7 August.

In January, Cabal and her husband, José Félix Lafaurie, challenged the process that chose Valencia in a letter to the party’s director. Lafaurie, who heads Fedegán, the national cattle ranchers’ federation, formally quit on 24 February.

A polite reply from the party

Centro Democrático answered on X within hours. It thanked Cabal “for all these years of service to the Centro Democrático party and to Colombia”.

It wished her success in future projects and closed with the line “Colombia will never be a lost cause.” Uribe himself posted a single sentence on X: “For Dr María Fernanda Cabal, always respect.”

Neither message criticised her, and Cabal kept her own tone calm. She said she retains gratitude and respect for Uribe and her former colleagues, but that differences of substance made the step necessary.

“I hold no grudge or resentment,” she told Blu Radio. “What I do feel, in a way, is ingratitude.”

A movement of her own

Cabal says she will reveal details on Saturday, 3 October, at 3 p.m. The name is not settled yet.

Options she mentioned to Blu Radio include “Democracia y Libertad” (Democracy and Liberty) and “Guardianes de la Libertad” (Guardians of Liberty). “The intention is to be a party,” she said.

She wants to choose candidates for the next regional elections, due in 2027, as a ladder towards the 2030 presidential race. She told Blu Radio she hopes to be a candidate in that race.

She also rejected the idea of a single party for the whole right. “This cannot be the only party of the right,” she said, comparing that idea to China’s Communist Party.

Caracol Radio reported that she praised several of De la Espriella’s achievements. She will back his agenda for as long as she considers it good for Colombia, the station said.

In an earlier interview with El Tiempo, she said De la Espriella had filled the space Uribe did not let her occupy.

What comes next

Saturday’s launch should answer the first open questions: the movement’s name, its leaders and whether any sitting lawmakers join it. Becoming a registered party is a separate and longer step.

The exit does not mean a break with the government, which Cabal says she supports for now. Centro Democrático loses a prominent name, but no seats in Congress.

It is also not a split of the party itself, because her request for a formal split was never granted. She leaves as an individual, as her husband did in February.

The real test comes in 2027. Regional ballots will show whether Cabal’s name still turns into votes without the party label that carried her for 12 years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is María Fernanda Cabal?

She is a Colombian right-wing politician who spent 12 years in Congress for Centro Democrático, four in the lower house and eight in the Senate. She gave up her Senate seat in June 2026.

What is Centro Democrático?

It is the right-wing party founded by Álvaro Uribe, who was Colombia’s president from 2002 to 2010. Its 2026 presidential candidate, Paloma Valencia, finished third in the first round.

Does her exit affect Colombia’s government or Congress?

Not directly. Cabal holds no seat in Congress, and she says she supports President Abelardo de la Espriella’s agenda for now.

What does she plan next?

Cabal plans to present a new movement on Saturday, 3 October 2026. She says she wants it to become a party, field candidates in the 2027 regional elections and back her own run for president in 2030.

Sources: Caracol Radio, 1 October 2026, La Opinión (Colprensa), 1 October 2026, El Tiempo, party reply, 1 October 2026, El Tiempo, Uribe reply, 2 October 2026, Blu Radio interview, 1 October 2026, El País (Cali), Senate farewell, 10 June 2026, Semana, Lafaurie resignation, 24 February 2026, Blu Radio, January letter, 26 January 2026. All retrieved 2 October 2026.