Colombia is heading towards a tension between hard course and peace. Both de la Espriella and Cepeda offer radically different prescriptions for a country wracked by violence.
Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella and left-wing senator Iván Cepedo will meet in the second round of the presidential election in Colombia. De la Espriella won 44 percent of the vote, while Cepeda got 41 percent, according to data from the electoral commission. The other candidates fell significantly behind, reports TASR with reference to the AP and AFP agencies.
- In the first round of the Colombian elections, De la Espriella won forty-four percent of the vote.
- Left-wing senator Iván Cepeda won forty-one percent of the vote in the presidential election.
- De la Espriella promises tough action against armed groups, including bombing narco-terrorists.
- Iván Cepeda advocates the continuation of peace negotiations with groups controlling part of the territory.
- During the reign of Gustav Peter, unemployment fell and the minimum wage rose by seventy-five percent.
De la Espriella, a 47-year-old businessman, lawyer and singer who does not hide his sympathy for US President Donald Trump, describes himself as a political outsider and uses the nickname El Tigre (Tiger), surprised with a better-than-expected result. In his campaign speeches, he spoke behind bulletproof glass and promised to crack down on armed groups, including bombing narco-terrorist camps. His rhetoric appealed to a part of the electorate that was alarmed by a series of attacks, including the assassination of one of the candidates.
Espriella prekvapil
Since he did not get the necessary 50 percent of the votes, he will compete with 63-year-old Ceped in the second round on June 21. The latter advocates the continuation of peace negotiations with armed groups that control part of the country’s territory and participate in the global production of cocaine.
Cepeda, a philosopher and human rights activist, is the son of left-wing senator Manuel Cepeda Vargas, who lost his life in Bogotá in 1994 in an attack by right-wing paramilitary groups. He is backed by outgoing President Gustavo Petro, who pursued a “total peace” strategy and is constitutionally barred from running for a second consecutive term.
Cepeda supports peace
Despite the government’s negotiations with guerrilla and paramilitary groups, Colombia is currently experiencing its worst wave of violence since 2016, when rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace deal and transformed themselves into a legitimate political party after decades of armed struggle. However, thousands of rank-and-file fighters and local commanders have rejected the agreement, kept their weapons, and continue their insurgent lifestyle and organized crime.
During Peter’s four-year term, unemployment fell and the minimum wage increased by 75 percent. Critics say Peter’s policies have given criminal organizations too much room.
Peaceful course of elections
Despite previous violence in rebel-held areas, election day itself passed peacefully. Authorities have deployed more than 400,000 police and soldiers to protect polling stations.
