Far-Right Lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella Proclaimed Colombia's President-Elect

Colombia has elected Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer, as its new president for the 2026-2030 term. The National Electoral Council (CNE) officially proclaimed de la Espriella as the president-elect on Wednesday, following his victory over leftist candidate Iván Cepeda in the runoff election held last Sunday.

De la Espriella secured 12.9 million votes, representing 49.66% of the total, narrowly defeating Cepeda, who garnered 12.7 million votes (48.70%). He is scheduled to assume office on August 7th, succeeding the current president, Gustavo Petro. This election outcome signifies a notable shift in Colombia's political landscape, moving away from the current leftist administration.

An attorney by profession, the 47-year-old president-elect is a self-proclaimed admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump and a donor to the Republican Party. De la Espriella built his career defending controversial clients, including businessman Alex Saab and fraudster David Murcia Guzmán. His past involvement in peace dialogues between the government and paramilitary groups also drew accusations of links to paramilitaries from Cepeda during the campaign.

De la Espriella established his political movement, Defensores de la Patria, in July 2025 with the explicit aim of preventing the re-election of Petro's leftist movement and its successor, Senator Iván Cepeda. His candidacy successfully united right-wing factions previously aligned with former President Álvaro Uribe.

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Today the CNE concludes one of the most transcendental acts of our democracy: the national scrutiny of the second round of presidential elections has been completed. I want to state that the scrutiny carried out is not just a formality, but the most rigorous verification of what was expressed in the popular will.