Right-wing criminal lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia's presidency, according to the preliminary count by the Registraduría, defeating left-wing senator Iván Cepeda by less than a point in the closest runoff in the country's history. With about 99.9% of the tables processed, De la Espriella took 49.66% of the vote against Cepeda's 48.70%, a difference of some 250,000 ballots. The governing-coalition candidate acknowledged the preliminary count but warned that he would not accept the result until the definitive tally, and challenged 33,000 of the 120,000 polling tables; President Gustavo Petro said that “neither can proclaim himself president.”

Right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella heads into Colombia's presidential runoff, set for this Sunday, June 21, as the favorite, though with contained triumphalism, while…

Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, who was endorsed by US President Donald Trump, won the preliminary count of the presidential runoff election in Colombia on Sunday,…