The first round of Colombia’s presidential election Sunday has thrown the nation’s fractures into harsh relief. Far-right criminal defence attorney and millionaire businessman Abelardo de la Espriella came in first place with just under 44 percent of votes, followed closely by leftist philosopher-turned-politician Ivan Cepeda on nearly 41 percent. The soft-spoken Cepeda, who represented incumbent President Gustavo Petro’s Pacto Historico party, is seen as one of the chief architects behind the leftist administration’s policy of simultaneous dialogue with the armed groups that continue to resist the 2016 peace accord. Like his ally Petro, Cepeda champions social policies that seek to address the deep-rooted economic inequalities that drive many poorer Colombians to coca production and violent crime. De la Espriella, on the other hand, stands for a fresh military offensive against the remaining armed groups – most of whom have left their ideological struggles by the wayside in favour of the bloody but lucrative world of drug trafficking, illegal mining and violent extortion. Read moreClashes between armed groups in Colombia kill at least 52 guerrillas on eve of election A fervent supporter of US President Donald Trump and his deadly bombing of alleged “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean, the self-proclaimed “Tiger” has promised to open up 10 mega-prisons across the country, following the example of El Salvador’s far-right President Nayib Bukele. He has also pledged to seek US support for air strikes against armed groups. “I will wipe out narco-terrorism and those who I've declared a military target like cockroaches, like rats. I will unleash upon them the wrath of God never seen before,” De la Espriella said in an interview with the Associated Press in the last days of the campaign. He has also sworn to rain down weedkiller on the coca plantations that continue to spread across Colombia’s hinterlands – a practice suspended more than a decade ago after studies found the chemicals likely caused cancer in humans.