When Abelardo De La Espriella takes office, he will lead a deeply polarized country with a narrow mandate. The U.S. should help him succeed.

Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia's presidential runoff, narrowly beating Ivan Cepeda. Markets like the pro-business shift, but a tight budget awaits.

With nearly all polling centres reporting, Abelardo de la Espriella had 49.65 per cent while his rival Ivan Cepeda had 48.70 per cent.