Right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella has won Colombia’s presidential run-off, according to the preliminary count released by electoral authorities, in a result that would swing the country sharply to the right.
De la Espriella, a political newcomer backed by US President Donald Trump, took 49.7 per cent of the vote in the June 21 run-off against 48.7 per cent for left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, the chosen successor of outgoing President Gustavo Petro.
The margin came to roughly 250,000 ballots, with almost all polling stations reporting. De la Espriella drew about 12.9 million votes, making him the most-voted presidential candidate in Colombian history.
Electoral officials had not formally declared a winner by the time counting closed. Cepeda said his campaign would challenge results from more than 30,000 polling stations during the binding official scrutiny.
The senator acknowledged the preliminary tally but described it as neither official nor binding.
Petro, who is barred from a second term under the constitution and had backed Cepeda, called for a thorough recount. He said no candidate could be proclaimed until the final count was ratified.
The two men had advanced to the run-off after the first round on May 31, when De la Espriella led with 43.7 per cent against Cepeda’s 40.9 per cent.
“Today begins a new stage for our country, a stage built on the free and democratic will of millions of citizens who chose to believe in a great, safe, and prosperous Colombia,” De la Espriella said in a message to supporters.
The lawyer, who has styled himself “El Tigre” (The Tiger), built his campaign on security, pledging to wage war on drug-running guerrilla groups and to build 10 mega-prisons modelled on those of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.
Security had dominated the contest in a country that recorded 14,780 homicides last year, the most in a decade. He had also promised to reopen the country to fracking and to reverse Petro’s freeze on new oil and mining contracts.
Trump endorsed De la Espriella before the vote, and US secretary of state Marco Rubio was among the first to congratulate him. Rubio said Washington would work with the incoming administration to curb illegal immigration to the United States and to strengthen economic ties.
Former presidents Álvaro Uribe, Juan Manuel Santos and Iván Duque also welcomed the outcome and urged national unity.
De la Espriella would take office on August 7, inheriting a relationship with Washington that had soured under Petro’s left-wing government.
