Left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda conceded Colombia’s presidential election to Trump-backed contender Abelardo de la Espriella on Wednesday, three days after the polling locations closed.De la Espriella won by 1% of the vote, which his opponent called an “extraordinarily narrow difference” in his concession speech to the South American nation.Though he accepted the election results, Cepeda suggested he would defy the conservative government that the Trump ally would bring.
“Accepting this result does not mean renouncing the truth or remaining silent about facts that we consider serious, and that marked this campaign,” the progressive candidate said.Cepeda is a Colombian senator in outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s government, whereas de la Espriella is a businessman and lawyer who had never run for office before. The political outsider was backed by President Donald Trump, who congratulated de la Espriella on his win this week.Notably, de la Espriella is a U.S.-Colombian citizen and a member of the Republican Party.The vote count was previously unofficial, though de la Espriella had already declared victory before Wednesday.De la Espriella, who will start his four-year term on Aug. 7, asked Cepeda and Petro to accept the results shortly after Sunday’s election. Cepeda did not initially accept the results, deciding to wait for a recount before he conceded. Petro repeatedly accused Trump of interfering in the country’s election.Trump has found a new ally in the incoming Colombian leader after Petro had recently opposed the Trump administration, primarily over the lethal U.S. military airstrikes that have struck alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. Petro condemned the killing of a Colombian fisherman who was reportedly caught in one of the strikes.De la Espriella plans to coordinate with the United States by joining Trump’s Shield of the Americas initiative, which mostly consists of Latin American countries, to combat drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere. Under Petro’s leadership, Colombia was not one of the initial 13 member nations to join the counter-cartel coalition earlier this year.Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among many world leaders who recognized de la Espriella’s electoral victory. The president-elect thanked Rubio for the friendly call.“Colombia and the United States have built a strategic relationship based on cooperation, security, and shared prosperity,” he posted on X. “I am confident that we will continue working together to strengthen these ties for the benefit of our peoples.”OPINION: COLOMBIA ELECTIONS PRESENT MAJOR OPPORTUNITY FOR THE UNITED STATESIsraeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also congratulated de la Espriella, who has been a staunch ally of the Jewish state.“Thank you, my dear friend,” de la Espriella said in response to Sa’ar’s statement. “Colombia will restore and strengthen its relationship with the State of Israel like never before. Israel can count on Colombia as a loyal friend and steadfast ally. May God bless our two nations.”
