Colombia's first-round presidential vote Sunday triggered a runoff between a hard‑right pro-Trump showman and a leftist philosopher-turned-senator, after the bloodiest campaign in over a decade. The electoral authority said rightwing hopeful Abelardo de la Espriella had won 44 percent of the vote, besting leftist Ivan Cepeda with 41 percent and a string of other candidates who trailed far behind. Read moreColombia's election: Meeting the Presidential contenders It was a stronger-than-expected showing for 47-year-old De la Espriella -- a pro‑Trump businessman-come-lawyer-and-singer who calls himself "The Tiger" and has billed himself as a political outsider.
Colombia's presidential candidate from the ruling party Pacto Historico, Ivan Cepeda, speaks beside Senator Maria Jose Pizarro after voting at a polling station during the presidential election in Bogota on May 31, 2026. © Raul Arboleda, AFP
He campaigned behind bullet‑proof glass and vowed a "shock plan" to confront armed groups in the air, on land and at sea, mimicking iron-fist talk that has swept the right to power across Latin America. "We'll start immediately with the bombing of narco-terrorist camps," he told AFP in an interview during the campaign. It was a message that appears to have resonated with voters rattled by a spate of car bombs, drone attacks and the assassination of a leading presidential candidate. But De la Espriella failed to garner the 50 percent needed to avoid a June 21 runoff. He will now face Cepeda, who has vowed to continue efforts to negotiate peace with dissident armed groups that dominate global cocaine production. In the decade since a landmark peace accord was signed with the once powerful FARC rebel army, Colombia has thrived. But pockets of the country are still under the grip of armed groups vying for control of cocaine routes, illegal gold mining and extortion. Read moreColombia votes in presidential election pitting Petro allies against pro-Trump candidates Outgoing President Gustavo Petro championed a "total peace" strategy of negotiating with guerrillas and other such drug‑trafficking groups. Critics say Petro's strategy has given criminal groups free rein, fueling violence and record cocaine exports.
