Right-wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella led Colombia’s presidential vote Sunday, putting the country on course for a possible sharp shift toward Washington and Jerusalem after years of confrontation with Israel under outgoing President Gustavo Petro.
With nearly all ballots counted, De La Espriella had 49.65% of the vote, ahead of Cepeda’s 48.7%, a gap of about 248,000 votes, according to the national registrar’s initial tally. Cepeda said his campaign would await the final ballot-by-ballot verification process, which is required under Colombian law.
De La Espriella has vowed to restore diplomatic ties with Israel and open a Colombian embassy in Jerusalem, reversing Petro’s rupture with Israel after he accused it of “genocide” in Gaza, imposed sanctions including a coal export ban, joined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and called for a “great army to liberate Palestine.”
De La Espriella, by contrast, has promised to restore relations with Israel and open a Colombian embassy in Jerusalem. In November, he met Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Buenos Aires and said Colombia had an “urgent need” to renew ties with Israel.
“A strategic alliance with the State of Israel and the U.S. government will not only make us stronger, but will place us on the right side of history,” he said at the time.
The 47-year-old lawyer and millionaire businessman, who calls himself a political outsider and “the tiger that woke up,” has made a hard line against Colombia’s left a centerpiece of his campaign. He has accused Petro and Cepeda of being too soft on criminals and has vowed to end peace talks with rebels and criminal groups, expand the oil and gas sector, lower taxes and cut the size of the state by up to 40%.
He has also promised an uncompromising campaign against guerrilla groups and drug traffickers, including bombing camps and spraying drug crops with support from Washington and Jerusalem.
“We will immediately begin bombing the camps of the narco-terrorists and spraying drug crops,” he said in February. “This cannot be done without a strategic alliance with the United States and the State of Israel.”
At the same time, De La Espriella has said he would preserve Petro’s 23% increase in the minimum wage and other popular social measures.
“It is a victory for Colombia — a change after four lost years with no clear direction,” said Viviana Olivos, a 46-year-old mechanical engineer, as she joined De La Espriella supporters in the coastal city of Barranquilla.
The president-elect will take office facing high public debt, powerful armed groups and a divided Congress that could complicate his reform agenda. More than 41 million Colombians were eligible to vote, and more than 26.2 million cast ballots. Around 420,000 voters submitted blank ballots, often used as a protest vote.
Cepeda’s supporters said they were holding out hope that the official verification of ballots from polling stations could narrow or overturn the result. Petro posted videos on social media that he said showed possible fraud and said the country should wait for the final count because of the tight margin.
“We are hopeful that now, with the vote count and the work of lawyers, votes can be recovered,” said Yesin Moreno, a 32-year-old audiovisual director, as he waited for Cepeda at an event in Bogota.
Cepeda, 63, had pledged to continue Petro’s agenda, including pension payments for the poor, union-backed labor reforms, peace talks with armed groups and a moratorium on new oil projects. He supported Petro’s decision to sever ties with Israel and said last year that he was “proud” the president had led the fight against Israel over what he called the “genocide” in Gaza.
De La Espriella’s lead comes as voters across Latin America have increasingly turned to right-wing candidates amid concerns over crime and economic weakness. In Colombia, Petro’s “total peace” policy has largely failed to curb violence. Armed groups have expanded in several regions, drug trafficking gangs have grown stronger and murders and extortion have surged along the Caribbean coast. Colombia remains one of the world’s largest cocaine producers.
De La Espriella’s critics point to his record as a criminal lawyer for controversial figures, including militia members, drug traffickers and Alex Saab, a close associate of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro who faces U.S. charges for allegedly laundering money. De La Espriella has said those were professional relationships only and did not imply complicity or wrongdoing.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has publicly feuded with Petro, endorsed De La Espriella this month, saying the election was “very important to the future of Colombia and its relationship to the United States.”
For Colombia, the result could signal not only the defeat of Petro’s left-wing project, but a likely reversal of the country’s foreign policy toward Washington and Jerusalem.
For Colombia, the result signals not only the defeat of Petro’s left-wing project, but a likely reversal of the country’s foreign policy toward Washington and Jerusalem.