BOGOTÁ, Colombia, June 25 (World Daily Times) — Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia’s presidential runoff by a narrow margin, according to preliminary results from the country’s election authorities, and his leftist rival Iván Cepeda later conceded while alleging foreign interference and vote manipulation.
The count showed de la Espriella with about 49.7% of the vote, ahead of Cepeda’s roughly 48.7%, in a race that points to a sharp shift toward a hard-line conservative government.
Cepeda said in a concession speech that he would accept the result emerging from the vote count as “an act of democratic responsibility.” He also accused the United States, President Donald Trump and de la Espriella’s campaign of improper interference, and said artificial intelligence had been used to manipulate voters. He further alleged vote-buying and unethical tactics.
President Gustavo Petro had questioned the preliminary tally on X and called for an audit of the voting software. The election authority’s preliminary count was still the basis for the result described in the reporting, and no independent evidence was provided in the cited remarks for Cepeda’s allegations.
De la Espriella, a lawyer and businessman known as “El Tigre,” had never held elected office before the race. He ran as a security-focused outsider and won backing from Trump, who praised him publicly during the campaign.
In his victory remarks, de la Espriella said the result marked “the beginning of a new chapter” for Colombia and promised a secure and prosperous country. He has also pledged a tougher crackdown on criminal groups and drug trafficking, including plans for ten maximum-security “mega-prisons.”
He is due to take office on Aug. 7, according to Colombia’s constitutional schedule.
