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Right-wing millionaire Abelardo de la Espriella, who was endorsed by US President Donald Trump, won the Colombian presidential electionaccording to preliminary results.
De la Espriella, 47, scored a narrow victory against a left-handed contender, Senator Ivan Cepedawho was supported by leftist President Gustavo Petro.
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De la Espriella’s victory in Sunday’s race will pave the way for the reform of the economic, foreign and domestic policies pursued under Petro, who tried to end Colombia’s inequality, held peace talks with armed groups and cut ties with Israel for its murderous war in Gaza. Petro also blocked the export of coal to Israel and joined South Africa in the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
De la Espriella has promised to restore relations with Israel and move the Colombian embassy to Jerusalem, following the initiative of Argentine President Javier Milei.
Here’s more about that election results means the following:
What were the results of the election?
From Espriella he won with 49.66 percent of the vote while Cepeda trailed him with nearly 250,000 votes with 48.7 percent of the vote, according to the number of national registrants at 100 percent of the vote.
Cepeda, 63, has vowed to uphold the policies of Petro, a former gangster and Colombia’s first left-wing president. These policies include public pensions for the poor, labor reform with the support of unions, a ban on new oil projects and continued peace talks with armed groups.
More than 26.3 million of the 41.4 million eligible voters cast their ballots in Sunday’s election.
De la Espriella emerged with a smaller advantage than Cepeda in the first round in voting on May 31, I got 43 percent of the votes compared to 40 percent of the senator.
Cepeda told supporters at an event in Bogota that he would wait for the final vote check and early voting, saying his campaign contested the results of about 33,000 polling stations, about a quarter of the 122,000 population.
“We are ready to negotiate. We are ready to reach an agreement as long as it is honorable, true and reflected in the political process that benefits the country and preserves the history we have already achieved,” said Cepeda.
The final official count, overseen by bookmakers and judges, is required by Colombian law and was about to end on Sunday. It is not yet known whether the final results match the original numbers.
Security was a top priority for many of de la Espriella’s voters, especially in areas where extortion and drug trafficking have recently increased.
But many of Cepeda’s supporters fear that de la Espriella’s crackdown on armed forces could return the country to more war. For more than 60 years, Latin America has struggled with left-wing gangs, drug cartels and insurgencies established by former right-wing militias.
“De la Espriella’s success marks a major change in attitude.” Four years after Colombia elected its first left-wing president, the country has turned to the right, joining a group of foreigners, powerful politicians with Milei, (President of El Salvador Nayib) Bukele and Trump, “Annette Idler, associate professor of security at Oxford University at Oxford University. Jazeera.
But the results also show how the country of Colombia is in a very divided state. He won by less than 1 percent, empty votes and more than those who won the victory and more than half of the country did not support him. This is not a rule of thumb.
Who is the new president of Colombia?
If the final results match the first results, de la Espriella, a lawyer and businessman with no political experience, will be the new president of Colombia.
He has presented himself as a businessman, but an investigation by the online newspaper La Silla Vacia found that many of his businesses have collapsed, are in debt and have lost money. His law firm is his most profitable business, it said. He is also a citizen of the US and Italy and has homes in several countries.
De la Espriella has blamed Petro for Colombia’s economic and security problems, including the rise in violence linked to armed groups, and has promised to end negotiations with the rebels and gangs. He has also promised to boost the oil and gas sector, reduce taxes and reduce the size of the government by 40 percent. He said, however, that he would keep Petro to increase the minimum wage by 23 percent along with other well-known social measures.
Mr. De la Espriella also contested the election by promising that if he won, he would launch a 90-day military operation against the country’s armed forces. Under Bukele’s brutal policies against drug gangs, he promised to build bigger prisons.
“I will rule all Colombian citizens, those who voted for me and those who chose someone else,” de la Espriella told a crowd of supporters in the coastal city of Barranquilla, promising to respect the rights of all citizens.
“De la Espriella benefited from the great disillusionment with Petro’s government, which leaves responsibility for the problems of security, public finance and health,” said Idler.
Idler explained that this public opinion was combined with a successful media campaign that sent out AI content, advocacy networks and large conferences that Cepeda could not match.
“His instability, his endorsement of Trump and his promise of a 90-day security crackdown have fueled the public’s desire for immediate action, even as his coalition with right-wing traditionalist, Petro-skeptic and protest voters remains fragile and his leadership position is unclear.”
What’s next?
The closeness of the race will force de la Espriella, who is due to take office on August 7, to drop some of his proposals in order to gain support from a divided Congress. Cepeda’s Historic Pact party has more seats than any other party in the Senate and the House of Representatives although neither party has a majority.
De la Espriella will also have to deal with skyrocketing public debt. It is about 60 percent of Colombia’s gross domestic product (GDP). Analysts and accounting firms said a weak budget and high spending made it difficult for the government to meet its 5.3 percent GDP growth target this year.
De la Espriella’s success follows a revolutionary process in South American countries. Voters in Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Ecuador have elected far-right leaders in their recent elections.
“The immediate question is whether the results will be confirmed,” Idler said.
He added that Cepeda has disputed the results of almost a quarter of the polling stations and Petro has refused to declare a winner even though history shows that the first count will take place.
If his victory is confirmed, de la Espriella will struggle to rule a deeply divided country. The armed forces have to return their promises of a 90-day war, the opposition parties will have many ways to block his plans and the political conflicts are already so intense that on the night of the election there were clashes between the protesters and the police in Cali.
In 2016, Colombia, then ruled by President Juan Manuel Santos, signed a peace agreement with the country’s main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Not all the soldiers of the left group agreed to surrender their weapons and some split into splinter groups.
What does this mean for US-Colombia relations?
Relationships need to be more positive in tone and tone, Idler said.
After his victory was announced, de la Espriella received a congratulatory call from Trump, who posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday: “You win, BIG!”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also wrote in a post that he called de la Espriella. “The Trump administration looks forward to working with the incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen our economic relationship,” Rubio wrote.
Trump has moved to increase US presence and influence in South America, including impeachment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduroto cause genocide in the Caribbean and in the eastern Pacific against small boats accused of drug trafficking without providing evidence and forming the Shield of the Americas, a military alliance of right-wing leaders who pledge to fight the drug trade.
Trump, who has publicly clashed with Petro, was criticized by congressional Democrats for publicly endorsing de la Espriella. Trump said this month that the outcome of Sunday’s race “is very important for the future of Colombia and its relationship with the United States”.
“Under Peter, the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated significantly.” “Both administrations have traded public insults over immigration, taxes and US military intervention in the region even as tensions eased after a White House summit earlier this year,” Idler said.
“Espriella, a US citizen who lived in Miami for many years and was endorsed by Mr. Trump, is entering office with a policy – including military cuts, a strong defense partnership and immigration – that clearly reflects what is needed in Washington state.
