Colombia Protest Decree 1525 Faces Lawsuit
COLOMBIA · PROTEST RULES
Key Facts
- —The country Colombia, where President Abelardo de la Espriella took office in August, has new national rules for how police handle street protests, marches and road blockades.
- —Why it matters Decree 1525 lets police skip dialogue steps against people who use violence, and opposition lawmakers say only Congress can limit the right to protest.
- —Why now The decree was signed on Tuesday 13 October, about 12 hours before the first national march against the new government.
- —What happened The president signed Decree 1525 on 13 October, and opposition lawmakers announced a lawsuit at the Consejo de Estado on 14 October.
- —The numbers The decree has 26 articles, sets five response levels and keeps police escorts at least 4 metres from marchers. The government counts 62,000 marchers on 14 October.
- —What it means for you Travellers and companies in Bogotá, Cali and Medellín should expect march-day detours, and investors should watch the court case.
- —Still open Whether the Consejo de Estado suspends or annuls the decree, and how the revived Esmad riot squad behaves at the next march.
- —Prediction markets Polymarket gives Flávio Bolsonaro a 77% chance and Lula a 23.5% chance of winning the Brazilian presidency (17 October, 2:27 a.m. ET). Polymarket puts Flávio Bolsonaro’s chance of winning at 77% and Kalshi at 77% (Lula: 24% and 21%), as of 17 October, 3:20 am ET; prices are bets, not polls.
- —Power Index Colombia ranks 6th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 51.9 points (October 2026 edition).
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The Colombia protest decree, known as Decree 1525 of 2026, rewrote police rules for street marches when President Abelardo de la Espriella signed it on Tuesday 13 October. Opposition lawmakers announced a lawsuit the next day at the Consejo de Estado, Colombia’s top administrative court.
For US readers, the rules matter because US companies, travellers and aid workers in Colombia depend on how marches, strikes and road blockades are policed. The signing also comes as De la Espriella, a public supporter of Flávio Bolsonaro, follows the Brazil election 2026 runoff on 25 October.
Brazil’s Brasil de Fato calls the measure a criminalisation of protest, and La Silla Vacía says the rights group Temblores fears it could stigmatise marchers. The decree text amends a police protocol and says the violent acts it targets are already crimes.
What the Colombia Protest Decree Changes
The decree has 26 articles and amends Decree 003 of 2021, a protocol written after a 2020 Supreme Court order to curb arbitrary police force at protests. It applies from publication in the Diario Oficial, and the government first used it on 14 October.
Under the Colombia protest decree, police must respond in five levels, from local dialogue managers up to the riot squad. Levels four and five need an order from the area’s first police authority, except in cases of imminent danger to life or imminent crime.
Against people who carry weapons or firebombs, hold others against their will or attack journalists from the start of a march, officers need not first try levels one to three when those steps are not materially possible. A command post must record why each level was skipped and inform the Public Ministry at once, and dialogue continues with peaceful marchers.
The Colombia protest decree says blocking a road does not make a march violent by itself, and dispersal is allowed only in exceptional cases. The decree also bars potentially lethal force to protect property.
Police must keep an escort team at least four metres from the march, with exceptions where the site makes that impossible. Information gathered in the dialogue stage cannot be used for intelligence work or to profile marchers.
Brasil de Fato says officers may shadow marchers at less than four metres, but the decree sets a minimum distance of four metres. The copy reviewed sets no new penalties or offences, and its article on protecting inventoried property says it does not limit or condition the right to strike.
Eight grounds end the dialogue stage, among them blocked ambulances, weapons, attacks on journalists and a verified shortage of food, water, fuel or medicine. Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara, who co-signed the text, called it protective of rights and democratic, La Silla Vacía wrote.
The First Test on 14 October
Caracol Radio reported that the decree was signed about 12 hours before the first national march against the new government. Unions, Indigenous organisations and other groups called the 14 October protests, DW reported.
De la Espriella said that night that 62,000 people marched nationwide and that 98% of the protests were peaceful. His government counted six police interventions, in Bogotá, Ibagué, Popayán and Medellín, and six arrests for alleged vandalism in Montería, Ibagué and Pasto.
The president described the incidents as small disturbances that ended when the riot squad arrived. These are government figures, and the sources reviewed contain no independent count of turnout.
La Silla Vacía wrote that fears of heavier police force did not materialise on the first day. That judgment covers only the first day of marches.
We previewed the draft in Colombia Readies Protest Decree Before Rallies and the call to march in Colombia Unions and Teachers March on 14 October. For the wider political map, see Colombia Politics Explained, Who Holds Power in 2026 and Who Dominates Colombia, Elites and Regions Explained.
The Court Challenge and the Return of the Esmad
Senator Jennifer Pedraza announced the lawsuit on 14 October, calling the decree regressive and unconstitutional. She argues that only Congress, through a statutory law, can set limits on the right to protest under article 37 of the Constitution.
Pacto Histórico lawmakers Daniel Monroy and Laura Beltrán announced a nullity suit and a tutela, and Senate second vice president Alejandro Ocampo filed another nullity suit on 14 October, El Espectador wrote. Beltrán and Monroy asked for the decree to be suspended while the court studies the case, and the Pacto Histórico is the left-wing party of former president Gustavo Petro.
The sources reviewed show no ruling by the Consejo de Estado on the Colombia protest decree yet. They also show no formal government reply in court.
The UN human rights office in Colombia, which gave technical help to the Interior Ministry on the text, said the government accepted some of its recommendations, El Espectador reported on 16 October. It welcomed the split between violent and peaceful marchers and the solidarity corridors, but warned that the broad definition of violence and some rules ending dialogue could weaken dialogue in practice.
Separately, police Resolution 03226 of 13 October created the Unidad Nacional Antidisturbios and revived the Esmad name, La Silla Vacía wrote on 16 October. It replaces the Undmo unit created in 2022 and gives the force 90 days to adopt its new structure.
The Esmad, the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad, drew complaints of excessive force in past protests, including the death of Dilan Cruz, La Silla Vacía noted. The new resolution tells the unit to respect human rights standards on the use of force and to carry out dialogue work.
The Link to Brazil’s Runoff
De la Espriella has openly backed Flávio Bolsonaro, the conservative who won Brazil’s first round on 4 October. On 7 October he gave Bolsonaro his first interview as president, which the Brazilian candidate published on his own channels.
In it he said he would be happy to attend a Bolsonaro inauguration but had promised not to leave Colombia for four years, offering a bilateral meeting in Colombia instead. Brasil de Fato calls him an ally of Flávio, which is that outlet’s own description.
Flávio faces President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the runoff on 25 October, and our guide to the Brazil runoff date explains how to follow it. The sources reviewed show no link between the Brazilian race and the content of the decree.
What It Means for You
Travellers in Bogotá, Cali or Medellín should check march dates and allow extra time, because Bogotá’s city government warned of TransMilenio detours on 14 October. Police escort teams are meant to stay at least four metres from marchers, so keep clear of crowds and follow local guidance.
Companies with plants, depots or shops can expect formal records of blockades, including lost income and blocked workers, under the new articles. Investors tracking Colombian political risk will watch the court case over the Colombia protest decree and whether marches stay peaceful.
What Is Not Known
The sources reviewed do not show whether the Consejo de Estado will suspend the decree or how long a ruling could take. They also give no independent count of the 14 October turnout, so the 62,000 figure rests on the government.
One Colombian lawyer told Brasil de Fato that police used violence against marchers in Bogotá after the march ended, and the other sources reviewed do not confirm it. Whether the revived Esmad will change how police act on the street is not yet clear.
The full list of plaintiffs may be longer than the lawmakers named in the coverage reviewed. The decree text was read in a copy linked by El Espectador, not in the Diario Oficial.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket prices Flávio Bolsonaro at 77% and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at 23.5% to win Brazil’s presidency on Saturday 17 October (2:27 a.m. ET). Flávio’s contract has traded about US$21.4 million, and the whole Brazilian presidential event about US$185 million.
These are real-money bets, not polls, and they cover the Brazilian race rather than the Colombian decree. Our Brazil election odds page tracks the live prices.
Prediction markets · who wins the runoff
Implied chance of winning Brazil’s presidency on 25 October, from traders’ prices.
Polymarket
Flávio Bolsonaro 77% · Lula 23.5% (US$185 million traded)
Kalshi (regulated in the US by the CFTC)
Flávio Bolsonaro 77% · Lula 21%
As of 17 October, 3:20 am ET (08:20 Lisbon), updated every 20 minutes. Prices are bets, not polls, and can move fast.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Colombia’s Decree 1525?
Decree 1525 of 2026, the Colombia protest decree, amends a 2021 protocol that governs how police respond to protests. President Abelardo de la Espriella signed it on 13 October 2026.
Does the decree make protest a crime?
The copy reviewed sets no new offences or penalties, and its preamble says the violent acts it targets are already crimes. Critics argue it could still stigmatise marchers and lets police skip dialogue steps.
Who is challenging the decree in court?
Senator Jennifer Pedraza and other opposition lawmakers announced a lawsuit at the Consejo de Estado on 14 October. They argue that only Congress can limit the right to protest through a statutory law.
What happened at the 14 October marches?
The government says 62,000 people marched and 98% of the protests were peaceful. It counted six police interventions and six arrests, and the figures are not independently confirmed.
What is the Esmad?
The Esmad is the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad of Colombia’s National Police. A resolution of 13 October restored the name inside a new National Anti-Riot Unit.
Why does Brazil’s election come up?
De la Espriella has publicly backed Flávio Bolsonaro, who faces Lula in the runoff on 25 October. The sources reviewed show no link between that race and the decree.
Sources: El Espectador, 14 October 2026 (decree text linked); Caracol Radio, 13 October 2026; DW, 14 October 2026; La Silla Vacía, 14 October 2026; El Espectador, 14 October 2026 (lawsuits); El Espectador, 16 October 2026 (UN human rights office); La Silla Vacía, 16 October 2026; La Silla Vacía, 7 October 2026; Infobae Colombia, 15 October 2026; Canal 1, 15 October 2026; Brasil de Fato, 16 October 2026. Prediction-market prices from Polymarket public data, 17 October 2026, 2:27 a.m. ET.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief