Prominent Colombian Senator Maria Fernanda Cabal and her husband, Jose Felix Lafaurie, president of the livestock federation Fedegan, have announced their resignation from Alvaro Uribe’s Centro Democratico party.
The decision follows a contentious internal process to select the party’s presidential candidate, which resulted in the nomination of Senator Paloma Valencia.
In a letter directed to party director Gabriel Vallejo, the couple cited grave irregularities in the selection mechanism and a lack of procedural guarantees. The letter signed by Lafaurie stated, “We do not want to continue in the Centro Democratico, we feel that we do not have space.”
Allegations of fraud and irregularities drove Cabal to quit Centro Democratico
The primary motivation for the departure stems from the polling process used to select the party’s presidential contender. Lafaurie and Maria Fernanda Cabal allege that the results from the Centro Democratico preliminaries were manipulated to favor Paloma Valencia.
In the resignation letter, Lafaurie wrote, “The procedure lacked electoral guarantee committees, clear rules, challenge mechanisms, or traceability, which constituted a serious violation of due party process.”
The letter explicitly targets Lester Toledo, a political consultant who advised the campaign of assassinated precandidate Miguel Uribe Turbay. Lafaurie claims Toledo was involved in altering the results. He continued to explain in the letter, “For us, it is a factual and moral certainty that the results were adulterated with the evident participation of Lester Toledo, Nubia Stella, and Jose Obdulio.”
#ATENCIÓN | Esta es la carta con la que José Félix Lafaurie anuncia que junto a su esposa María Fernanda Cabal se separan del Centro Democrático y piden una escisión.
Critican el proceso de selección de Paloma Valencia como candidata del partido y señalan que los resultados de… pic.twitter.com/3wWmefIvFB— Noticias RCN (@NoticiasRCN) January 26, 2026
In the letter, Lafaurie detailed specific instances that allegedly point to fraud, including a meeting in Madrid where Toledo purportedly claimed the result was “fixed” for Valencia. Additionally, the letter cites testimony regarding the polling data itself. Lafaurie claims that “Chilean employees linked to the polling company recounted a meeting on Saturday, 13, where ‘Maria Fernanda’s victory by a lot was already known,’ only for the result to be different two days later.”
Proposed party split
Despite their resignation, the couple is seeking a formal split from the Centro Democratico to create a new political collective under Cabal’s leadership, while remaining within legal electoral frameworks.
In the letter, Lafaurie stated: “We deserve a dignified exit, so we propose the spin-off of the Centro Democratico, which allows Maria Fernanda to form her own party.”
However, the party leadership has seemingly rejected this proposal. According to reporting by La Silla Vacia, Valencia responded quickly, saying, “There will be no party splits.”
Centro Democratico confirms Valencia backing
Despite the acrimonious exit and the allegations of fraud, Cabal and Lafaurie indicated they would honor previous agreements regarding the upcoming 2026 election.
In the letter, the couple stated, “We do not want to affect the internal process that selected Paloma Valencia as a candidate. We will support Paloma in her aspiration.” Party director Gabriel Vallejo defended the integrity of the polling process. In an interview with local radio station Blu Radio, Vallejo referenced an audit by Kepler, stating that “no irregularities were detected in the survey process.”
The resignation comes just as Valencia attempts to solidify her position as the candidate for the right-wing coalition. Valencia ultimately won the internal polls with 46% of the vote compared to other candidates, according to reporting by La Silla Vacia.