Trump-endorsed de la Espriella holds slim lead in Colombia's election as rival challenges vote

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Conservative political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella held a narrow lead Monday with almost all votes counted in Colombia’s polarized presidential runoff, as the ruling party’s progressive candidate vowed to challenge the results.

De la Espriella, a business owner and lawyer who earned U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement despite never having run for office, led with 49.7% of the votes over lawmaker Iván Cepeda, with 99.9% of results released by electoral authorities. Cepeda, ally of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, had 48.7%.

Election officials have not formally announced a winner.

A victory by de la Espriella is expected to usher in policies that will reverse Petro’s agenda, including a contentious plan to hold parallel peace negotiations with illegal armed groups. Cepeda, Petro’s protégé, had pledged to push forward that strategy and other social reforms if he won Sunday’s vote.

The election was colored by people’s fears of renewed internal conflict.

“I will govern for all Colombians,” de la Espriella, nicknamed “The Tiger,” told thousands of supporters as he stood behind bulletproof glass in the northern city of Barranquilla on Sunday night. But his conciliatory tone changed as he spoke.

“Pack your bags and prepare to become the opposition,” he added. “Make no mistake, Mr. Cepeda. You already know how fiercely the tiger roars.”

Progressive candidate calls count ‘unofficial’

Cepeda on Monday responded to de la Espriella’s remarks, warning him against threats, veiled or otherwise.

“Let me be perfectly clear: We are half of this country in political terms, and we have a long history of resistance,” Cepeda said in the capital, Bogota. “We are very hardened. Don’t come threatening us. Neither your roars nor your screams frighten us.”

He asked supporters to remain calm and maintain “exemplary behavior.” Hours earlier, people in the western city of Cali took to the streets, damaging a public bus, several surveillance cameras and an ATM.

The vote count showed that the municipality that includes Cali favored Cepeda with nearly 60%. Authorities there said four police officers were injured in the protest and two demonstrators were arrested.

After the results became public Sunday, Cepeda characterized the count as “unofficial and non-binding” and announced that his team was challenging results from more than 30,000 voting stations. Petro also vowed to challenge the outcome.

No recount has flipped the results of a presidential election in Colombian history.

Sunday’s winner will begin a four-year term Aug. 7.

The candidates pitched voters widely different strategies to prevent the South American country from the nonstop violence, such as car bombs, kidnappings, disappearances and forced displacements, that Colombians lived with in previous decades.

De la Espriella, 47, promised a heavy-handed approach to crime-fighting, including drug trafficking. He also said he plans to end Petro’s attempts to establish dialogue with multiple armed groups — an effort that has largely failed — and build mega-prisons, emulating Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s aggressive policies. Those tactics have lowered homicide rates in the Central American country but have fueled accusations of human rights abuses.

De la Espriella holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship. He’s a Trump supporter and a member of the Republican Party.

“He Won, BIG!” Trump said on social media.

‘It’s always the same violence’

Yolanda Hernández, who recycles trash for a living, voted for Petro in 2022 but cast her ballot for de la Espriella this time. While she acknowledged that Petro was unable to deliver on promises meant to help the poor because of congressional gridlock, she said Colombia cannot afford another four years under his vision for the country.

“We want change in Colombia because it’s always the same violence, always the same thing,” Hernández, 49, said. “(Petro) said he was going to lower the cost of services, that he was going to lower the price of food, and everything is more expensive.”

More than 426,000 voters chose a third, no-name option on the ballot meant to allow people to express dislike of both candidates. Another 29,000 voters cast blank ballots.

Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Sunday’s result shows the country “has not shifted overwhelmingly or decisively” against Petro’s project or for de la Espriella’s outsider “iron fist showmanship.”

Freeman said the result also underscored Colombia’s regional divisions.

“It’s regional, not just ideological, polarization; or rather, the two overlapping,” he said. “Ironically, de la Espriella’s iron-fist message performed best in the core of the country, not the periphery, which bears the brunt of Colombia’s violence.”

Colombia’s illegal groups have more than 27,000 members.

Last year, authorities recorded 14,780 homicides, the most since at least 2015, driven by clashes among illegal armed groups. Among those killed was conservative presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe.

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