De La Espriella leads Colombian presidential runoff with 49.7% of vote

Election outcome

With 95% of ballots counted, Abelardo De La Espriella held 49.7% of the vote, according to AFP, while Ivan Cepeda trailed at 48.7%, a gap of roughly 368,000 votes. The national electoral authority reported De La Espriella at nearly 50% and Cepeda at 48.4%. Around 400,000 voters cast blank ballots, a form of protest in Colombian elections.

Candidates and platforms

De La Espriella, a 47-year-old lawyer and businessman who calls himself "El Tigre," ran as a political outsider with no prior office. He campaigned on a hardline security agenda: building ten mega-prisons, ending peace talks with armed groups, and launching a 90-day military offensive with bombings and coca-plantation fumigation, seeking support from the US and Israel. Economically, he promised tax cuts, promotion of the oil and gas sector, and a 40% reduction in the state apparatus, while pledging to keep outgoing president Gustavo Petro's 23% minimum-wage hike and other popular social measures.

Cepeda, a 63-year-old senator and human rights activist, vowed to continue Petro's policies of dialogue with armed groups and social spending. His platform included state pensions for the poor, higher taxes on the wealthy, land grants for conflict victims, and a halt to new oil projects.

Today is the most important election in the history of the country.

If we win, we will govern for the whole country, not just one sector.

Violence and security

The vote took place amid the worst wave of violence in a decade, ten years after the historic peace deal with the FARC guerrilla group. Dissident factions, right-wing paramilitaries, and drug gangs remain active. The campaign was marred by car bombs, drone attacks, and the assassination of right-wing candidate Miguel Uribe in June 2025. Shortly before the runoff, security forces struck the EMC, a FARC splinter group.

There is great uncertainty. There is much division, there is much aggressiveness.

International dimension

De La Espriella, who also holds US citizenship, received explicit backing from US President Donald Trump. His style has been compared to that of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele. Colombia is the world's largest cocaine producer, and De La Espriella's proposed crackdown includes US and Israeli assistance.

Challenges ahead

The incoming president faces high public debt and a divided congress that could block reforms. De La Espriella must also manage a polarized electorate, as reflected in the narrow margin and the significant blank-vote protest.