Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused Israel of interfering in Colombia’s presidential election, weeks after French prosecutors opened an investigation into alleged foreign interference targeting pro-Palestine candidates from La France Insoumise in local elections. French authorities suspect the campaign involved BlackCore, an Israeli cyber and influence firm, though they have not identified who commissioned the operation.
In the latest case of alleged Israeli interference, Petro has raised serious irregularities in Colombia’s vote-counting process, claiming that changes to electoral server IP addresses indicate that the software may have been compromised. The Colombian president called for a full forensic audit, judicial oversight of the scrutiny process and a nationwide recount, while alleging that Israel was behind the purported interference.
The claims emerged as Colombia’s electoral authorities continued the official verification process after a tightly contested presidential run-off. Preliminary results showed right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella ahead with 49.66 per cent of the vote, against 48.70 per cent for left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, with nearly all ballots counted.
