Colombia runoff too close to call as de la Espriella edges ahead

Bogota,UPDATED: Jun 22, 2026 07:10 IST

Colombia's presidential runoff ended on Sunday without a formal winner being declared, though political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella held a narrow lead over progressive lawmaker Ivan Cepeda with 99.9 per cent of votes counted, according to electoral authorities. The close contest unfolded against public fears that the country could slide back into a more violent phase of its internal conflict.

De la Espriella, a businessman and lawyer backed by US President Donald Trump, was on 49.7 per cent of the vote, while Cepeda, an ally of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, had 48.7 per cent. A de la Espriella victory would be seen as a setback for Petro, whose protege had promised to continue his agenda.

Election officials had not formally announced a winner. Before the result was known, Petro had vowed to challenge it, and after the figures were released, Cepeda said his team would contest the results from more than 30,000 voting stations. No recount has ever reversed the result of a presidential election in Colombia. In the streets of Bogota, some people shouted, "Petro out! Petro out!" and sounded car horns.

Both candidates offered sharply different plans to stop the violence that has long scarred Colombia, including car bombings, kidnappings, disappearances and forced displacement. De la Espriella, 47, promised a tough approach to crime, including drug trafficking. He said he would end Petro's attempts to hold parallel peace talks with multiple armed groups, an effort that has largely failed, and build mega-prisons modelled on the policies of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele. Those policies have lowered homicide rates in El Salvador but have also drawn accusations of human rights abuses. De la Espriella, known as "The Tiger", has Colombian and US citizenship, supports Trump and is a member of the Republican Party.

At a voting centre in Bogota, retired economist Vctor Duque, 72, said, "We have had an armed conflict and a drug trafficking problem for too long, and this has greatly polarised the country." He added, "I believe it is one of the most important elections that has taken place in Colombia this century."

In the first round, official results showed Cepeda on 41 per cent and de la Espriella on 44 per cent. After Cepeda, who had consistently led opinion polls before the May vote, failed to win outright and even finished behind de la Espriella, Petro cast doubt on the result without providing evidence. He repeated those allegations on Sunday.

Yolanda Hernandez, 49, voted early before selling black-ink pens outside a Bogota voting centre. She said customers buy them because the ink cannot be erased from paper ballots, reducing the possibility of fraud. Hernandez, who recycles rubbish for a living, voted for Petro in 2022 but chose de la Espriella this time. "We want change in Colombia because it's always the same violence, always the same thing," she said. "(Petro) said he was going to lower the cost of services, that he was going to lower the price of food, and everything is more expensive." She said Petro had failed to deliver on promises aimed at helping the poor because of congressional gridlock, and that Colombia could not afford another four years under his vision.

The election came 10 years after Colombia signed a peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which had raised hopes of ending the cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government. But violence has returned, especially as many rebel groups shifted from ideological fighting to the profits of drug trafficking. Authorities recorded 14,780 homicides last year, the highest number since at least 2015, driven by clashes among illegal armed groups. Among those killed was conservative presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe. Extortion has also risen sharply, reaching 13,417 cases in 2025, more than double the number recorded in 2015.

Cepeda said he would continue Petro's signature "total peace" plan by seeking agreements with guerrilla groups and criminal gangs. That heavily criticised strategy, launched in 2022, only saw its first armed group give up weapons on Thursday. The group has about 100 members and has begun a resettlement process meant to help its fighters return to civilian life. Colombia's illegal armed groups have more than 27,000 members.

With the result still open to challenge but de la Espriella ahead in the near-final count, the runoff underlined Colombia's deep divide over how to deal with violence, crime and the legacy of Petro's presidency.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends