Right-Wing 'Tiger' Poised to Win Colombia’s Presidential Runoff

Hard-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, 47, appeared set to win Colombia’s presidential runoff overnight between Sunday and Monday, defeating left-wing rival Ivan Cepeda, 63. With more than 99% of ballots counted, de la Espriella had 49.65% of the vote, while Cepeda trailed by about 245,000 votes at 48.7%. Around 420,000 voters cast blank ballots as a protest. Cepeda said the published figures were “not final” and said he would challenge results from 33,000 polling stations before accepting them.

The race was seen as a referendum on President Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first-ever leftist leader, whose term ends in August because the constitution bars a second run. Petro has been among the harshest critics of Israel internationally since the October 7 massacre and the Gaza war, severing diplomatic ties, imposing sanctions including a ban on coal sales, joining South Africa’s case at The Hague, and even calling for a “large army to liberate Palestine.”

De la Espriella campaigned on restoring ties with Israel and said he would open an embassy in Jerusalem. He is also backed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “He won, by a lot!”, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio had already called to congratulate him. In Bogotá, supporters honked horns and chanted “Petro out,” while de la Espriella promised to govern “for all Colombians.” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also congratulated him, calling him “the tiger,” and said he hoped to visit Israel soon.

The election came amid a broader conservative surge in Latin America, with recent right-wing victories in countries including Bolivia, Honduras, Chile and Costa Rica. Colombia, long a key U.S. ally and a traditional supporter of Israel in the region, has faced rising violence from guerrillas and drug cartels. Petro’s “total peace” policy failed to curb the armed groups or cocaine production, which has risen to record levels, with Colombia now supplying two-thirds of the world’s cocaine.

De la Espriella, a criminal lawyer, millionaire businessman and self-styled outsider who lived in Florence until recently, owns U.S. citizenship and a Miami estate. He has promised to wage an all-out war on crime, with bombing campaigns against “narco-terrorist” camps and aerial spraying of coca fields, saying this would require an “strategic alliance” with the United States and Israel. He has also vowed to build 10 “mega prisons” in the jungle, declare a state of emergency, cut the size of government by about 40%, and copy the tough-on-crime model of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele.