Lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia’s presidential election after a razor-thin race against leftist senator Iván Cepeda, according to preliminary official results with more than 99% of ballots counted. De la Espriella, 47, took about 50% of the vote and, if confirmed, will lead a sharp political shift in Bogotá after four years under Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president.
The president-elect pledged to move Colombia’s embassy to Jerusalem. U.S. President Donald Trump, who publicly backed him during the campaign, congratulated him, saying he “won, and won big.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke with de la Espriella and said the Trump administration expects to work closely with the new government. Israel welcomed the result too, and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar invited de la Espriella to visit Israel and said he hoped to renew ties between the two countries. Petro, meanwhile, alleged that Israel intervened in the election on behalf of the right-wing candidate.
De la Espriella ran an aggressive, highly unusual campaign built around nationalist imagery, AI-generated videos featuring tigers, and hard-line promises on security and order. He vowed to restore safety, fight corruption, defend religion and family, build huge prisons, and crack down on what he called “narco-terrorists” and “gender ideology.” He also echoed the style and social-media tactics associated with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and Argentine President Javier Milei.
His running mate was former trade minister José Manuel Restrepo, whose experience helped calm concerns about de la Espriella’s lack of political background. The campaign took place amid violence, including the killing of another conservative presidential hopeful and two campaign workers. Cepeda said he would accept the preliminary results while waiting for the count to finish, and said his bloc remains a major force in Colombian politics.
