Updated 1 Jun, 2026 05:29
Right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella conducts an election run in Bogota, Colombia, 7 May 2026. © Andres Lozano / Long Visual Press / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
A lawyer and supporter of Donald Trump, Abelardo de la Espriella, gained a tiny advantage over left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda in the first circular of the Colombian presidential election.
After calculating the votes from more than 99% of the constituency de la Espriella gained 43.72% of the support, while Cepeda gained 40.92%.
3rd place, with a score of 6.92%, was taken by Conservative candidate Paloma Valencia.
The second circular of elections will be held on June 21.
Colombia has historically been the United States' most crucial ally in the region in terms of safety cooperation and the fight against drug trafficking.
The US is Colombia's largest trading partner, and the country shares a long border with neighbouring Venezuela.
The relations between Washington and Bogota have deteriorated importantly in fresh years during the reign of outgoing president Gustavo Petro, who criticised the US president Donald Trump's massive deportation policy, as well as US military attacks on individuals suspected of drug smuggling.
Both leaders frequently exchanged common insults on social media and in public statements.
Petro, the first left-wing president in Colombia's history, is not allowed to apply for a second consecutive word and has supported Cepeda.
Due to its conservative views and friendly attitude towards the US, de la Espriella can be compared to the president of El Salvador Nayiba Bukele, 1 of Trump's closest allies in Latin America.
The candidate expressed appreciation for Trump's lead "cultural fight against the ideology of woke" and committed to defending conventional sex standards.
De la Espriella welcomed Trump's return to the White home and supported the action of American commandos in Caracas, during which US forces abducted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
"It was revealed how USAID and “woke” populism drove a turn left in countries specified as Colombia...
To guarantee fair competition, it is imperative that your father's administration brings Petro to order.” – wrote de la Espriella in January on platform X, responding to the entry of Donald Trump Jr.
Cepeda – the boy of a communist senator murdered in 1994 by state-related paramilitary militias – opposed Trump's interventionism and condemned his threats against Petro.
"We are neither a colony nor a protectorate of the United States.
We will not submit to any imperial or authoritarian dominance” – wrote Ceped in January on platform X.
In a magazine interview ‘Jacobin’ Shortly after Maduro's abduction, Cepeda criticized Trump's attempts to revive the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which treats Latin America and the Caribbean as an exclusive region of U.S. influence.
“We are a peace zone. And we don't accept abroad interference.
This is the attitude that governments and nations must take” – he said.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/640798-colombia-presidential-race-runoff/
