Trump-style outsider leads Colombia vote, runoff set after disputed count

Colombia’s presidential race is heading to a high-stakes runoff after a polarizing first-round vote left two sharply different candidates vying for the presidency.

Right-wing political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella led Sunday’s field with more than 43% of the vote, following a campaign modeled after U.S. President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele.

Left-wing Sen. Iván Cepeda, the endorsed successor of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, followed closely with just over 40%. Because neither candidate cleared the 50% threshold required to win outright, both advance to a June 21 runoff.

The preliminary count immediately drew backlash from the left. Both Cepeda and Petro sowed doubt regarding the numbers, alleging software glitches and vote discrepancies. Petro claimed that private counting software was corrupted by the improper addition of 800,000 identification numbers left off the official census.

However, Juanita Goebertus, the Americas director of Human Rights Watch, defended the system as independent and trustworthy, urging the international community to respect the results.

The election unfolds amid a violent surge in cartel activity and record cocaine production across the country. The two remaining candidates offer opposing strategies to address the security crisis. De la Espriella, running under his self-founded Defensores de la Patria party, promises a heavy-handed crackdown on crime, including building 10 maximum-security megaprisons.

Cepeda, a veteran lawmaker who helped negotiate Colombia’s historic 2016 peace deal with FARC guerrillas, favors pursuing continued peace negotiations with armed factions and drug cartels.

Conservative candidate Paloma Valencia, who finished a distant third with 7 percent of the vote, officially endorsed de la Espriella at a news conference Sunday night. Her supporters, who oppose Petro’s mandate, could potentially swing their support to de la Espriella in the final round.

Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief

Ella Greene

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