MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Tuesday, July 7th 2026 - 20:00 UTC
De la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer who won the June 21 runoff, ordered his vice president-elect, José Manuel Restrepo, to suspend transition meetings “immediately” on Tuesday
Colombia's president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, froze the transition process with the outgoing government of Gustavo Petro on Tuesday and accused the president of attempting a coup, in a sharp escalation exactly one month before the handover of power, set for August 7.
De la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer who won the June 21 runoff, ordered his vice president-elect, José Manuel Restrepo, to suspend transition meetings “immediately” on Tuesday morning. Hours later, in an address broadcast on social media from Barranquilla, he expanded on his reasons. “We cannot sit at the table with a gang of coup-plotters and corrupt officials who do not recognize the sovereign will expressed at the ballot box,” he said, arguing that the outgoing government seeks to cling to power.
