Colombia’s electoral authorities on Wednesday formally declared Abelardo de la Espriella president-elect after completing the official vote count, confirming his narrow victory in Sunday’s runoff election.
He is due to take office on August 7.
Left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, backed by outgoing President Gustavo Petro, acknowledged the far-right candidate’s victory hours before the official declaration, though he continued to question the integrity of the election.
The National Electoral Council certified De la Espriella as president and José Manuel Restrepo as vice president after tallying votes from all of Colombia’s departments and citizens living abroad. The pair will govern through 2030.
“The Colombian people have won. We defeated fear, threats and those who believed they could take away Colombia’s future,” De la Espriella wrote on X after the announcement.
