Colombia’s far-right presidential candidate Espriella wins first round of vote ahead of runoff
Lawyer and Trump admirer has risen rapidly in the polls and will face Iván Cepeda in election runoff in three weeks
TL;DR
- Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer, won the first round of Colombia's presidential election with 43.7% of the vote.
- Espriella will face senator Iván Cepeda, the candidate supported by President Gustavo Petro, in a runoff election on June 21.
- President Petro has alleged fraud in the preliminary results, claiming "800,000 additional people" were included in the count, a claim disputed by election officials.
- Espriella, who has never held public office, promises a "iron-fist" security strategy, contrasting with Petro's "total peace" policy.
- Espriella is an admirer of Donald Trump, Nayib Bukele, and Javier Milei.