In one of Colombia’s tightest and most turbulent elections in years, flamboyant US-backed lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella — a political newcomer who has never held public office — has narrowly captured the presidency, steering the country sharply to the right on a pledge to confront drug-running guerrilla groups.
With more than 99 percent of polling centers reporting, official results showed Mr De la Espriella on 49.65 percent of the vote, a margin described as unassailable over left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, who stood at 48.70 percent.
As the count edged toward completion in Bogota, Mr De la Espriella’s supporters took to the streets, waving flags and blaring horns while awaiting the final tallies.
The runoff ended with only a few hundred thousand votes separating the two men, capping a bitterly divisive campaign overshadowed by guerrilla bomb attacks, hundreds of threats against candidates, and the killing of a leading conservative presidential hopeful.
Mr Cepeda casts his vote
Speaking in Barranquilla after his victory, Mr de la Espriella declared he would usher in a “new era” for Colombia, even as he sought to strike a more unifying note.
“Mine will be an absolutely democratic government and a guarantor of freedom and institutional order,” he said.
“I will be president for all Colombians.”
The win by the 47-year-old is expected to ease strained ties with Washington — which has poured billions of dollars into military assistance for the South American nation — while putting Colombia’s fragile peace process under renewed pressure.
Mr De la Espriella campaigned with US President Donald Trump’s “complete and total endorsement,” and his success adds to a broader wave of right-leaning leaders who have recently swept into power across Latin America.
He said he had spoken with Mr Trump, who offered his congratulations.
Throughout the campaign, the dual US-Colombian citizen, who styles himself “The Tiger,” vowed that, if elected, he would immediately halt peace negotiations with dissident groups and begin a 90-day campaign of US-backed airstrikes against them.
