Medellín Judge Reviews Colombia’s Foreign Military Operations
Colombia · LAW
Key Facts
- —Court The 34th Oral Administrative Court of the Medellín Circuit admitted the claim.
- —Claimant Walter Leandro Aguirre Mazo, a private citizen, filed on 14 August 2026.
- —Action An acción de tutela, the writ protecting fundamental rights under Article 86.
- —Deadline Defendant bodies had two days to report; a ruling is due in ten working days.
- —Interim relief The judge refused to suspend foreign military operations for now, citing thin evidence.
A citizen’s writ now forces three ministries to show where the legal authority actually comes from.
A court in Medellín admitted a constitutional claim on 26 August 2026 against three national ministries. It asks a simple question about foreign military operations in Colombia: which act authorised them, and who signed it.
A Medellín court opens the file
The Juzgado Treinta y Cuatro Administrativo Oral del Circuito de Medellín admitted a constitutional claim on 26 August 2026. Its name translates as the 34th Oral Administrative Court of the Medellín Circuit.
Walter Leandro Aguirre Mazo, a private citizen, filed on 14 August 2026 in his own name. He sued the Presidency, the Foreign Ministry and the Defence Ministry before the Consejo de Estado.
That body, the Council of State, is Colombia’s highest administrative court and did not keep the case. The file was sent down to Medellín, in Antioquia department, far from the ministries in Bogotá.
The judge who signed the admission order has not been named publicly. The order was dated 26 August and became public the next day.
What an acción de tutela can do
The case is an acción de tutela, the writ Colombians use to defend fundamental rights. Article 86 of the 1991 Constitution created it, and any citizen may file one without a lawyer.
The writ is deliberately fast and may be lodged before any judge. Decree 2591 of 1991 gives the judge ten working days to decide.
Aguirre Mazo also sought an urgent interim measure under Article 7 of that decree. The court refused it for now, saying the file lacked proof of imminent danger.
The authorisation nobody can produce
The claim does not attack a decree, a resolution or a signed treaty. It attacks an announcement, because no published act authorising foreign military operations has been found.
On 12 August 2026 in Panamá, United States War Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke at a regional summit. He said Colombia had asked his department to join joint operations against narcoterrorism.
Washington now calls that department the Department of War. Colombia used the same summit to join the Shield of the Americas, in Spanish the Escudo de las Américas.
Aguirre Mazo says no authorising act appeared in the Diario Oficial, Colombia’s official gazette. He also found nothing on the websites of the three ministries he sued.
The judge ordered the entities to produce any instrument, memorandum, agreement or communication behind the announcement. He also asked for troop numbers, areas, the chain of command and the rules of engagement.
Article 173 and the Senate’s permission
Article 173, paragraph 4, of the Constitution grants the Senate one narrow but pointed power. Only the Senate may permit the transit of foreign troops through the territory of the Republic.
The claimant also invokes Article 121, which bars any authority from exercising powers it was never given. Training, intelligence sharing and logistics have long run under existing cooperation instruments.
The court ordered the Senate’s General Secretariat to certify whether any permission request arrived. If none did, the domestic legal basis for foreign military operations is hard to locate.
Colombia’s Congress holds ordinary sessions from 20 July, so the Senate was not in recess. Senate president Honorio Henríquez said on 13 August that troop entry needs legislative approval.
Article 237 and the Council of State
Article 237, paragraph 3, adds a second filter that readers abroad often miss. The government must hear the Consejo de Estado before foreign troops, warships or military aircraft transit or station.
That opinion comes from the Sala de Consulta y Servicio Civil, the court’s advisory chamber. The judge ordered it to certify whether any such opinion was requested or issued.
Article 189, paragraph 7, lets the president allow transit while the Senate is in recess. Even then, a prior opinion from the Consejo de Estado must come first.
The 2010 precedent that still governs
In October 2009 Colombia signed a complementary agreement letting United States forces use seven military bases. The government treated it as a simplified accord needing no congressional vote.
The Constitutional Court disagreed in Auto 288 of 2010, issued on 17 August that year. It held that the text created new international obligations and therefore amounted to a treaty.
The order said the agreement could produce no domestic effect until Congress approved it by law. Automatic constitutional review would then follow, and neither step was ever completed.
The label a government puts on a document does not settle its legal nature. That reasoning is the strongest card the claimant holds on foreign military operations today.
A similar writ failed in 2020, which cuts the other way. On 17 October 2020 the Consejo de Estado revoked a lower ruling that had ordered President Iván Duque to seek Senate approval.
What the government has said
The Defence Ministry published a statement on 12 August 2026 confirming Colombia’s entry into the coalition. It joined the Coalition of the Americas Against the Cartels, abbreviated A3C, as the nineteenth member.
Defence Minister Jorge Eduardo Mora, a retired major general, signed the bilateral cooperation arrangement in Panamá. The statement said the decisions rest on strict respect for national sovereignty and international law.
Mora said on 13 August that the cooperation strengthens rather than replaces Colombia’s sovereign responsibility. Washington has separately signalled roughly US$1 billion in planned security assistance for Colombia.
No instrument has been published, and no government response to the writ has been reported. President Abelardo de la Espriella, sworn in on 7 August 2026, has not addressed the Senate question publicly.
Critics, supporters and the next steps
Senator Iván Cepeda said on 12 August that the move hands Colombian sovereignty to Washington. Former president Gustavo Petro argued on 13 August that the Senate, not the president, decides.
Former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez backed the plan on 13 August as a way to restore state authority. Columnist Ernesto Macías Tovar wrote on 18 August that no Senate vote is required here.
Beatriz Helena Gil of Congreso Visible at Universidad de los Andes takes the opposite view. She says armed participation would need an international instrument, and a treaty would need congressional approval.
A ruling on the foreign military operations claim is due within ten working days of filing. Either side may appeal, which would send the case back up to the Consejo de Estado.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is the court examining?
It is examining whether any valid Colombian act authorised foreign military operations involving direct use of armed force. No such published act has been produced so far.
Has any court ordered the operations to stop?
No. The judge admitted the claim but refused an interim measure suspending foreign military operations, citing insufficient evidence at this early stage.
Why does the Senate matter here?
Article 173, paragraph 4, gives the Senate sole power to permit the transit of foreign troops. The court has asked the Senate to certify whether it received any request.
Connected Coverage
Sources
- www.infobae.com
- www.infobae.com
- www.infobae.com
- www.eltiempo.com
- www.elcolombiano.com
- www.elespectador.com
- www.corteconstitucional.gov.co
- www.constitucioncolombia.com
- www.constitucioncolombia.com
- www.infobae.com
- actualidad.rt.com
- www.eltiempo.com
- www.riotimesonline.com
- www.riotimesonline.com
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