As noted last month, 2026 is a presidential election year for Colombia. This cycle came down to a run-off between the leftward Senator Iván Cepeda versus lawyer and political outsider, the rightward Abelardo de la Espriella.
Here are the results with roughly 99.9% of the vote counted via El Tiempo:
For anyone wondering, de la Espriella can win with less that 50% because the “en blanco” vote (i.e., “none of the above”) is a valid vote category.
I will say that it is hard to find a better example of electoral polarization. Cepeda would be a continuation of the leftward approach to governing. The current president, Gustavo Petro, was the first leftist elected in Colombia in decades (if ever, depending on how you define the term). While these things are always contingent on a variety of factors, it is possible that Cepeda would have been more left than Petro. Meanwhile, de al Espriella has said things that sound far too much like El Salvador’s Bukele for my tastes, and his approach and campaign have cleaved more to the reactionary right. So two poles ideologically, for sure.
The 0.96 difference between the candidates is, therefore, all the more striking.
The competitive nature of the contest helped bring the voters out. The voter participation rate for this contest was 63.6%, which is an historic high.
Some other info, for those who might be interested.
Via the NYT (Trump-Backed Outsider Appears to Win Colombian Presidential Race), here’s a bit of a profile of the new president.
Mr. De La Espriella, 47, ran a high-voltage campaign complete with machine-generated flames; A.I. videos of tigers, his mascot; and pounding anti-Petro chants that made him somewhat of a celebrity.
He also vowed to “disembowel” Colombia’s left and asked the Trump administration to target his political opponents, leading critics to call him an autocrat in the making.
[…]
His campaign was stridently nationalistic, claiming the flag, the Colombian national soccer jersey and the patriotic slogan “Firme por la patria!” — “Standing firm for the homeland!”
It nevertheless borrowed ideas, and a deft social media strategy, from the iron-fisted leader of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, and from Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, two hugely popular figures in Latin America.
Like those leaders, Mr. De La Espriella adopted an aggressive tone. He promised to build megaprisons and to claw back the country from progressive politics and “gender ideology,” putting God and family first.
His vow to hunt down criminals and crush Colombia’s “narcoterrorists”— Mr. Trump’s favored term — resonated with supporters while alarming those who opposed him, raising the specter of more bloodshed and authoritarianism.
[…]
Mr. De La Espriella has argued that he will bring prosperity to Colombia by working more fluidly with the United States, following a contentious relationship between Mr. Petro and Mr. Trump.
Playing up his patriotism, Mr. De La Espriella did not speak at rallies about his close ties to the United States, where he lived for more than a decade in Florida and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2023. There were no American flags or MAGA hats.
Indeed, de la Esriella is not just an outsider in terms of never having been in electoral politics; he has lived in Miami for quite some time.
In Miami, he became known for representing high-profile clients back in Colombia, including many charged with drug trafficking and corruption or embroiled in scandals linked to right-wing paramilitaries. He has said he took only cases that gave him “vertigo.”
His client list included Alex Saab, who was later charged by the U.S. authorities with helping Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s former leader, to launder hundreds of millions of dollars meant to help the poor. Mr. De La Espriella has downplayed his relationship with Mr. Saab, who is now in U.S. custody.
On the one hand, I understand the important role played by defense attorneys. On the other hand, it seems like playing with fire to elect a president who is a defense attorney with deep ties to keep narcotrafficking capos and operatives. It seems insane to do so in a country like Colombia.
And I can’t imagine why Trump vibes with the guy…
Before his run, Mr. De La Espriella was also known as a flamboyant bon vivant. He sang opera, wore tailored suits and self-produced an album of covers of hits by artists like Andrea Bocelli and Frank Sinatra. In the video for his Spanish cover of “My Way,” he appears eating sushi on a private jet.
He also formed businesses, from a piano bar to a luxury goods line called De La Espriella Style, and went in on a rum company. His campaign sold pricey, limited-edition watches to donors.
