Colombian candidate urges rivals to respect vote count, warns against violence

Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella has called on Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his rival, Iván Cepeda, to respect the election results and refrain from promoting mobilizations or violence as the official vote count progresses. De la Espriella, who holds a narrow lead in the preliminary tally, cautioned against igniting a "social fire," emphasizing that there would be no "third round in the streets."

Speaking to thousands of supporters in Barranquilla, De la Espriella, representing the Defensores de la Patria movement, stated that he was elected under the same system that put the current president in office. He asserted that disregarding the outcome would be a defiance of millions of voters. De la Espriella assured Cepeda that he would have "all the guarantees to exercise opposition" within the constitutional framework but urged him not to incite social unrest or "sow terror."

Earlier, Cepeda acknowledged the preliminary results but also revealed that his campaign intends to contest 33,000 voting tables during the official scrutiny process, which is being conducted by judges and notaries. Cepeda stated that his campaign recognizes the preliminary count as an official figure but will await the final results after verifications are completed.

The preliminary count shows De la Espriella with 12.9 million votes compared to Cepeda's 12.7 million, a difference of just 0.96 percentage points. The close margin is narrower than anticipated by polls and significantly less than De la Espriella's lead in the first round.