The preliminary count of the second round of Colombia’s presidential election indicates that Abelardo de la Espriella will win the dispute with government leader Iván Cepeda. The information was confirmed by the National Registry to Luciana Taddeo, special envoy of the CNN Brazil.
With 99.93% of the ballots counted, De la Espriella had 49.65% of the votes, while Cepeda won 48.70%. The difference was less than 250 thousand votes.
The right-wing candidate had already received a majority of votes in the first round, and opinion polls indicated that he should also win the new election.
De la Espriella received support from other members of the Latin American right, such as Javier Milei, from Argentina, and José Kast, from Chile. It also gained support from Donald Trump, from the United States.
Cepeda says it will contest 33 thousand ballot boxes
Iván Cepeda stated after the preliminary results that he will await the final verification, ballot by ballot, of the vote count.
The final count, supervised by notaries and judges, is required by Colombian law.
He further added that his campaign will contest the results of around 33,000 ballot boxes.
Who is Abelardo de la Espriella?
Abelardo de la Espriella has no prior political experience and used rhetoric and images of a military nature.
He calls himself “the Tiger”, calls his political movement “Defenders of the Fatherland” and salutes at rallies and publicity events, despite never having served in the Armed Forces.
His pledge to fight crime more rigorously gave him a several-point lead over Cepeda in the first round.
Known for his combative style and provocative statements, the candidate defends the construction of mega-prisons, the strengthening of the Armed Forces and a closer relationship with the United States.
An admirer of former president Álvaro Uribe, he seeks to consolidate a conservative leadership in the Colombian political scene and is leading the polls for the second round.
