Far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella has secured a surprise first-round victory in Colombia's presidential election, winning 43.7% of the vote against leftwing senator Iván Cepeda's 40.9%. The result stunned analysts and politicians, as polls had consistently shown Cepeda leading. De la Espriella, an admirer of Donald Trump, now faces Cepeda in a runoff on 21 June, with about 3.6 million votes still up for grabs.
De la Espriella's success is seen as a blow to Colombia's traditional conservative forces, exemplified by the collapse of rightwing senator Paloma Valencia's campaign, which finished with just 6.9%. Political scientist Yan Basset noted that Valencia's decline led to a tactical shift of rightwing voters towards De la Espriella, who appeared the safest rightwing candidate to reach the runoff.
De la Espriella campaigned on a promise to end Colombia's decades-long armed conflict within 90 days, advocating military alliances with the US and Israel, total confrontation with criminal groups, and mega-prisons. Cepeda, backed by President Gustavo Petro, supports the 'total peace' strategy of negotiating with all criminal groups. Both candidates have traded harsh insults, with Cepeda calling his rival a 'misogynist' and 'homophobe', while De la Espriella labelled Cepeda and Petro 'miserable criminals'.
President Petro sparked controversy by refusing to recognise preliminary results, alleging without evidence that the count included '800,000 additional people'. Political scientist Nadia Jimena Pérez Guevara described these allegations as 'not healthy' for Colombian democracy, noting that Cepeda's focus on the issue rather than appealing to voters could harm his campaign.
