Friday, August 7th 2026 - 10:40 UTC
The 47-year-old criminal defense lawyer won the June 21 runoff against left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, having never held public office or stood for election before
Abelardo de la Espriella takes office as president of Colombia on Friday at a ceremony held at the Santiago de Cali University, outside Bogotá and without the attendance of his predecessor, Gustavo Petro, in a handover marked by confrontation between the two men.
The 47-year-old criminal defense lawyer won the June 21 runoff against left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, having never held public office or stood for election before. He will govern until 2030 alongside Vice President José Manuel Restrepo, an economist and former trade and finance minister under Iván Duque.
Petro announced in July that he would neither attend nor shake his successor's hand, accusing him of reaching power through electoral fraud. He has presented no evidence to judicial authorities. National registrar Hernán Penagos Giraldo said on August 5 that there are no doubts about the results; the National Electoral Council upheld the count and the Council of State confirmed both the election and the inauguration venue. The outgoing president's absence does not affect the act's validity: the constitution requires the presence of Congress, not of the departing president.
