Abelardo de la Espriella Wins Colombia Presidency With 49.66%, Beating Iván Cepeda by 250,000 Votes
Updated
Updated · Jacobin magazine · Jun 25
Abelardo de la Espriella Wins Colombia Presidency With 49.66%, Beating Iván Cepeda by 250,000 Votes
3 articles · Updated · Jacobin magazine · Jun 25
Summary
49.66% of the vote gave far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella Colombia’s presidency, edging leftist Iván Cepeda’s 48.70% in one of the country’s narrowest presidential margins in decades.
A gap of about 250,000 votes delivered power to the founder of Defensores de la Patria, a movement he created for this election cycle and will lead into office in August.
De la Espriella campaigned on closer alignment with Washington and won open backing from Donald Trump, as well as support from regional right-wing leaders including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa.
His victory threatens to reverse social policies advanced under Gustavo Petro’s 2022-2026 government and revive a militarized security approach that critics say could worsen Colombia’s long-running internal conflict.
The result further shifts Latin America to the right, leaving Brazil and Mexico as the only large countries in the region still governed by the left.