Abelardo de la Espriella was named President-elect of Colombia on Sunday after the nationalist lawyer, backed by US President Donald Trump, secured a narrow victory.A flamboyant US-backed lawyer, who has never held public office, Abelardo de la Espriella narrowly won Colombia's presidential runoff. (AFP)As per the official count, De la Espriella, who is nicknamed "The Tiger", pulled off a victory in the first round of voting in late May with 43.7% of the vote. In the runoff, he secured 49.66% of the vote, beating out leftist senator Ivan Cepeda.Who is Abelardo de la Espriella?Abelardo de la Espriella was born on July 31, 1978 in Bogota. At the age of two, the family moved to the Caribbean city of Monteria.The businessman is a citizen of the United States, Italy and Colombia.A married man with four children, before his run in the presidential elections, De La Espriella found himself in several controversies.Cat killing, sexual harassment and other controversiesIn an archived interview, the lawyer stated that as a child, he 'enjoyed' tying fireworks to cats and watching them explode.According to local reports, he claimed his goal was to make the animal fly, but did not realise the fireworks would explode. The president-elect's remarks sparked controversy, and many accused him of animal cruelty.The leftist opposition also criticised De la Espriella for his actions and stated that his admission contrasted with his past actions regarding the animal welfare and anti-cruelty legislation passed in the country.In May 2026, around the first round of the presidential elections, the right-wing candidate was accused of sexual harassment.As per local reports, De la Espriella showed explicit photos of his genitals to a female journalist during an interview with Piso 8 FM.The incident sparked outrage among women’s rights groups and led to a court order requiring the candidate to publicly apologise to the journalist.Furthermore, Colombian media outlets also expressed concerns during the businessman's presidential campaign, which, as per La Silla Vacía, revolves around the "alpha male" stereotype.Shift to the right for ColombiaDe la Espriella's win marks a major shift for the Latin American country, as this marks a return to the right for the first time in four years.He is set to take the oath of office on August 7, succeeding Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first and only left-wing president.Over the course of his campaign, the president-elect also saw support from other right-wing nations in Latin America, such as Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa, who was promised to remove tariffs on Colombian products if De La Espriella was elected. Chilean President José Antonio Kast, Argentine President Javier Milei, and US President Donald Trump also expressed their support for the nationalist candidate.What are some of the promises made by the president-elect?De la Espriella, who is regarded as a right-wing or far-right leader, has publicly stated that he would withdraw Colombia from international organisations such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the United Nations.The businessman has also called for the creation of a security system, similar to the one in El Salvador, by calling for the creation of 10 mega-prisons across the country, and killing criminals “like rats and cockroaches”.He is also supportive of economic laissez-faire policies that allow private businesses to expand and develop without government control. The right-wing leader has also called for the elimination of ministries.Following backing from Trump, the Colombian leader announced that he would support the bombing of alleged "narco-terrorist camps" and fumigation of coca plantations with the help of US aircraft.The businessman was also vocal for the US' military raid in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of sitting president Nicolas Maduro.The leader has also called for renewing ties with Israel, which were cut by the Petro administration over Israel's genocide in the Gaza Strip.De la Espriella is also anti-abortion, against same-sex adoption, and has called for limitations of FECODE, which is the country's main union for teachers.With these limits, De la Espriella hopes to propose reforms to the education system that would be more active in teaching religious values to students.