Trump congratulates Colombia presidential candidate
Trump congratulated Abelardo De La Espriella, recognized by many as ‘El Tigre,’ following an preliminary poll rely. Whereas not formally referred to as, the slim lead indicators a possible rightward shift for Colombia. (Reuters.)
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President Donald Trump congratulated conservative lawyer and businessman Abelardo de la Espriella on changing into president of Colombia Monday on the White Home. But whereas he holds a slim lead and is the favourite to win over left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, authorities have but to formally certify the outcome.
With 99.9% of votes counted, de la Espriella led with 49.7% to Cepeda’s 48.7%. De la Espriella, recognized to his supporters as “El Tigre,” dominated within the nation’s mountainous inside and the vote-rich state of Antioquia, whereas Cepeda received within the capital Bogotá and carried out properly in coastal areas, following developments of current presidential elections.
Cepeda has challenged the outcomes, citing irregularities at hundreds of polling stations. Nonetheless, overturning the election can be unprecedented in Colombian historical past.
If de la Espriella does maintain out, it is going to mirror a continent-wide rightward shift seen in current electoral leads to Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru, the place conservative Keiko Fujimori seems poised to win the presidency.
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Colombia’s right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, from the Defensores de la Patria motion, delivers a speech to supporters throughout a marketing campaign rally in Palmira, close to Cali, Colombia on Could 14, 2026. Colombia will maintain presidential elections on Could 31. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP through Getty Photos)
Donald Trump congratulated de la Espriella throughout a signing on the White Home on Monday. Trump instructed reporters that, “He referred to as me final evening, and he thanked me for the endorsement. He received. He received the election.” In response to a query on relations between the U.S. and Colombia, Trump asserted that issues can be “A lot better. It’s going to be higher. He will be an ideal president.”
The election featured two candidates representing polar opposites of the Colombian political spectrum. De la Espriella, referred to as ‘El Tigre’ by his supporters, has loved the enthusiastic backing of Donald Trump, promised a return to the law-and-order strategy of former President Alvaro Uribe, and pledged an aggressive army marketing campaign towards guerrilla teams and prison organizations, whereas Cepeda vowed to proceed the negotiation-based technique of Petro, a longtime political ally.
Ivan Cepeda is a longtime determine on the Colombian left, and served as senator for 12 years, following a four-year stint within the Chamber of Representatives. His father, Manuel Cepeda, was a outstanding determine within the Colombian Communist Get together, and was assassinated in 1994 throughout a very bloody period in Colombia’s inside battle.
Colombia’s presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, of the Defensores de la Patria celebration, speaks behind bulletproof glass throughout his closing marketing campaign rally in Medellin, Colombia on Could 24, 2026. Colombia will maintain presidential elections on Could 31. (Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP By way of Getty Photos)
The first round of the election, held on Could 31, noticed de la Espriella win 43.7% of the vote, to Cepeda’s 40.9%, with right-wing Senator Paloma Valencia putting a distant third, at 6.9%.
On Sunday night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated de la Espriella on the outcome, saying, “The Trump Administration seems ahead to working carefully together with your incoming administration to advance regional safety cooperation, finish unlawful immigration to the US.”
Ivan Cepeda speaks throughout a marketing campaign rally in Cali, Colombia, on June 6, 2026. The leftist candidate is ready to face conservative lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella in Colombia’s June 21 presidential runoff election. (AFP through Getty Photos)
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Whereas the problems driving American and Colombian politics stay significantly distinct, de la Espriella’s rebel outsider marketing campaign emulated Trump’s in some ways, notably within the sense that neither held elected nor appointed workplace previous to successful the presidency, launching profitable campaigns nearly fully outdoors the prevailing celebration construction.
The defining security and safety difficulty set de la Espriella on a successful course, as he honed one thing of a strongman picture to forcefully critique the Petro administration’s coverage of peace by way of negotiation with armed groups in opposition to the Colombian authorities.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, left, and President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Trump stated Petro will “be subsequent” amid escalating tensions over U.S. army strikes within the Caribbean and drug trafficking operations. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP through Getty Photos; Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg through Getty Photos)
It’s extensively believed that Petro’s negotiation-based strategy and restraint with respect to army motion has allowed such teams because the ELN (Nationwide Liberation Military), and varied dissident components of the FARC to regroup, enhance recruitment and regain management of key territory and drug trafficking routes.
De la Espriella promised a return to an aggressive army marketing campaign to reclaim territory from terrorist teams and cartels, and pledged to construct “mega-prisons”, citing the insurance policies of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele as a mannequin for eradicating prison teams.
A de la Espriella administration may even seemingly mark a return to free-market economics, decreased governmental intervention within the economic system, and a renewed push to decrease taxes.
A strengthened U.S.-Colombia relationship can also be a certainty, following an period of appreciable tensions between Petro and Trump, which led to a collection of acrimonious social media exchanges. Traditionally, Colombia was the U.S.’ strongest ally within the area, however the relationship has weakened significantly below the tenure of Petro.
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Political analysts may even be carefully watching the dynamic between Colombia and Venezuela. De la Espriella is more likely to observe the Trump administration’s lead in Bogotá’s strategy to the brand new Delcy Rodriguez administration, demanding a timeline totally free and truthful elections, and calling on the Venezuelan authorities to aggressively pursue the ELN Marxist guerrilla group in border areas the place it has lengthy sought refuge, and had an allegedly shut relationship with former dictator Nicolás Maduro.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
