June 21, 2026 / 8:35 AM EDT
/ CBS/AP
Add CBS News on Google
A deeply divided electorate will choose Colombia's next president in a runoff on Sunday that pits a progressive against a conservative outsider, with both candidates tapping into fears of a renewed internal conflict in the country as they represent "two very extreme sides," one Colombian said."Right now, what worries me is the polarization that exists between us: there are two very extreme sides, and the violence is concerning," said John Manrique, a lawyer in Colombia's capital, Bogota. "What I hope is that people accept who won … Let's not go out and fight."More than 41 million people are eligible to vote on Sunday. Voters will choose between Iván Cepeda, a far-left senator and candidate of the ruling Pacto Histórico party, who is also the heir to President Gustavo Petro's policies, and Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer who has modeled his rhetoric and optics after President Trump and El Salvador's Nayib Bukele. Their race in what has been a high-stakes presidential election for Colombia headed to a runoff after Cepeda an Espriella defeated nine other contenders on May 31.Both are pitching strategies that they say will prevent the South American country from experiencing the nonstop merciless violence, such as car bombs, kidnappings, disappearances and forced displacements that Colombians lived with in previous decades.De la Espriella is proposing a heavy-handed approach that has earned him the endorsement of President Trump. But Petro told CBS News earlier this month that he saw Trump's endorsement as an act of interference, accusing Washington of abandoning its anti-drug mission cooperation for ideological reasons. He also warned that Colombia would see a wave of political violence if the right were to assume power.The Colombian president had previously said in a social media post, in which he endorsed de la Espriella, that the results of his country's election "are very important to the future of Colombia and its relationship to the United States.
