Pro-Trump candidate Abelardo de la Espriella advanced to a runoff in Colombia’s presidential election Sunday afternoon, according to preliminary official results.
Espriella, a supporter of President Donald Trump who has drawn comparisons to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, received almost 44% of the vote in the first round.
Espriella’s opponent, Ivan Cepeda, is a senator from outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s left-wing party. He won about 41% of the vote.
Cepeda and Petro cast doubt on the election results later Sunday night, with both claiming “without evidence that hundreds of thousands of votes were manipulated and that foreign actors manipulated the results of the election,” according to the Associated Press. Since neither candidate received an outright majority of the vote, the election proceeds to a runoff on June 21.
The positive result for Espriella is a promising sign for the conservative candidate who has made cracking down on crime a key priority in his campaign. He has said that Petro hasn’t done enough to combat criminal organizations in Colombia and views his conservative rival, Paloma Valencia, as part of the establishment. Valencia received almost 7% of the vote.
The former lawyer and businessman, nicknamed “El Tigre,” was consistently trailing in polls before promising harsher crackdowns on criminal groups. “Let the United States of America and democratic parties monitor this runoff election,” Espriella said in a speech Sunday night. “I will be Colombia’s best warrior.”
Espriella has no prior political experience.
WELCOME THE GOOD MEETING BETWEEN TRUMP AND COLOMBIA’S GUSTAVO PETRO
Trump met with Petro in February at the White House after sparring with him over tariffs, the administration’s deportation policies, and strikes against alleged drug smugglers throughout his second term.
Despite Petro’s deep leftist ties, Trump ultimately said the two “got along great” at the meeting.
