Luis Carlos Reyes stepped down from Mauricio Lizcano’s presidential ticket on March 16, just three days after joining it. On March 19, Lizcano named Pedro de la Torre, a scientist born in Atlantico, as his new running mate on the F.A.M.I.L.I.A. Coalition ticket ahead of the May 31 election.
The resignation that forced the change
The decision came after learning, on the very day of his announcement, that the baby his wife is expecting remains in a delicate health condition. “Right now my wife is pregnant, and we had just received that news,” he said. The couple had previously lost a child during his time in government. Reyes said that he remains committed to public service but will work from academia for now.
Lizcano had chosen Reyes because of what he witnessed during their time together as cabinet ministers. He watched Reyes confront irregularities in the handling of public funds directly, including standing up in a cabinet meeting to accuse the finance minister of trading in discretionary budget allocations.
Those allegations triggered judicial investigations that produced active legal proceedings against former Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla, currently under investigation for allegedly favoring members of the Public Credit Commission amid the corruption scheme of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).
“I realized that Luis Carlos was not loyal to political parties; he was loyal to Colombians. He has the ability and the courage to report even his own colleagues when there is corruption,” Lizcano said.
Who is Pedro de la Torre
De la Torre grew up in a low-income family in the Caribbean coast. He studied chemistry at the Universidad del Atlántico, completed a specialization in finance, and earned a doctorate in Applied Sciences at the Universidad de Talca in Chile on a scholarship.
He then completed two postdoctoral programs in biochemistry and biophysics at Ohio State University, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital. His research focuses on drug design and gene therapies for hearing and vision loss, with contributions to studies on Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.
Lizcano framed the pick as a statement about what Colombia can produce. “Pedro de la Torre reflects what we are as a country; people who fight, who work hard, and who, through effort, can reach the most important stages in the world. Today we want that knowledge to serve Colombia,” he said.
The role they are competing for
The vice presidency in Colombia carries more weight than simple succession. The 1991 Constitution allows the president to assign the vice president special missions or appoint them to any executive branch position. In practice, running mates have led major ministries.
Germán Vargas Lleras, the running mate of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), led the ministries of infrastructure, housing and water. Martha Lucía Ramírez, elected alongside Iván Duque (2018-2022), served as foreign minister throughout his term.
The only case in which a vice president assumed the presidency under the current Constitution involved Carlos Lemos Simmonds, and it lasted just nine days. Congress appointed him in 1997 to replace Humberto de la Calle, who had resigned as vice president.
When President Ernesto Samper traveled to Canada for medical treatment in January 1998, Lemos stepped in temporarily — a brief but constitutionally significant moment that illustrated how consequential the position can become under the right circumstances.
That institutional weight is part of what makes the choice of running mate a revealing decision. For Lizcano, whose campaign is built around fighting corruption, De la Torre’s trajectory — from a low-income household in a small Caribbean town to postdoctoral research at two American universities — is meant to signal both the values and the ambition of the ticket.
What’s next
The Lizcano–De la Torre ticket will compete against 13 other registered pairs in the presidential election on May 31, 2026. This is the full list of candidates for president and vicepresident:
Partido Esperanza Democratica: Clara Eugenia Lopez Obregon / Maria Consuelo del Rio Mantilla
Coalicion F.A.M.I.L.I.A.: Oscar Mauricio Lizcano Arango / Pedro de la Torre
Romper el Sistema: Raul Santiago Botero Jaramillo / Carlos Fernando Cuevas Romero
Partido Democrata Colombiano: Miguel Uribe Londono / Luisa Fernanda Villegas Araque
Sondra Macollins, la abogada de hierro: Sondra Macollins Garvin Pinto / Leonardo Karam Helo
Movimiento Politico Pacto Historico: Ivan Cepeda Castro / Aida Marina Quilcue Vivas
Defensores de la patria: Abelardo Gabriel de la Espriella / Jose Manuel Restrepo Abondano
Con Claudia imparables: Claudia Nayibe Lopez Hernandez / Leonardo Humberto Huerta Gutierrez
Partido Centro Democratico: Paloma Susana Valencia Laserna / Juan Daniel Oviedo Arango
Partido politico Dignidad & Compromiso: Sergio Fajardo Valderrama / Edna Cristina del Socorro Bonilla
Partido politico La Fuerza: Roy Leonardo Barreras Montealegre / Martha Lucia Zamora Avila
Partido Ecologista Colombiano: Gustavo Matamoros Camacho / Robinson Alonso Giraldo Mira
Luis Gilberto soy yo: Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia / Luz Maria Zapata Zapata
Caicedo: Carlos Eduardo Caicedo Omar / Nelson Javier Alarcon Suarez