De la Espriella leads in vote intention for Colombia's second round

Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella is leading in voter intention for Colombia's upcoming second presidential round, according to a poll released Tuesday. De la Espriella, who was the top vote-getter in Sunday's first round, registered 50.3% support for the June 21 runoff, surpassing Cepeda's 42.6%.

The survey, conducted by AtlasIntel and published by Semana magazine, is the first to be released since the initial vote. The 7.7 percentage point difference in this poll is notably wider than the 2.84-point advantage de la Espriella held over Cepeda in the first round. De la Espriella, representing the Defensores de la Patria movement, secured 10.3 million votes (43.74%) in the first round, while Cepeda of the Pacto Histórico received 9.6 million votes (40.90%).

For the second round, 3.7% of respondents indicated they would cast a blank vote, and 2.9% were undecided. The poll, which surveyed 2,030 individuals across all regions between June 1 and 2, has a margin of error of 2%. When asked which candidate they would not vote for, Cepeda faced a rejection rate of 56.6%, compared to de la Espriella's 40.3%.

Additionally, the poll gauged respondents' opinions on President Gustavo Petro's performance. Only 42.7% approved of his handling of the country, while 53.2% disapproved.