NARROW WIN:
The hard-right candidate told warned Cepeda to respect the vote, saying that ‘the Tiger can still bite you harder than he has bitten you at the ballot box’
AFP, BARRANQUILLA, Colombia
A flamboyant US-backed lawyer who has never held public office on Sunday narrowly won Colombia’s polarizing presidential runoff, swinging the country hard right and sparking violent protests. With almost all the votes counted, Abelardo de la Espriella held 49.66 percent of the vote versus left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda’s 48.70 percent. The 47-year-old’s slender win triggered demonstrations, but would ease ties with Washington and extend a regional right-wing wave centered on “iron fist” security policies.
Supporters of Colombia’s right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella react to preliminary results on the day of a runoff between De la Espriella and leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda in Barranquilla, Colombia, on Sunday.
