Colombia's outgoing President Gustavo Petro tore into his US counterpart Donald Trump on Thursday for supporting a hard-right candidate to succeed him, accusing Washington of allying itself with the "narco-traffickers" it professes to combat. The famously outspoken Petro was reacting to Trump's full-throated endorsement of tough-talking lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella over a leftist senator in Colombia's presidential election. De la Espriella, 47, made a fortune representing drug-trafficking paramilitaries, fraudsters and soccer stars. Read moreWho is Abelardo de la Espriella, the far‑right Trump fan who could lead Colombia? He generated surprise by defeating leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, an ally of Petro, in the first round of voting in Sunday's presidential election. The two will face off again in a June 21 runoff. Trump on Tuesday backed De la Espriella, citing his "tremendous accomplishments in life, and his political support for me, personally." Petro, Colombia's first left-wing leader, has criticised Trump's meddling in the campaign. "Their (US) allies in Colombia come from the narco-paramilitary regime; they are genocidal and drug traffickers," he told AFP in an interview at the presidential palace. Trump has sought to influence several recent elections in Latin America by backing right-wingers who talk tough on crime and migration against leftists he dismisses as Marxists.