{"id":890573,"date":"2026-06-25T00:16:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T00:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/890573\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T00:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T00:16:33","slug":"trump-endorsed-abelardo-de-la-espriella-declared-winner-of-colombias-presidential-runoff-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/890573\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump-endorsed Abelardo de la Espriella declared winner of Colombia\u2019s presidential runoff election"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella<\/a>, a millionaire political neophyte, will be Colombia\u2019s next president after electoral authorities on Wednesday declared him the winner of Sunday\u2019s runoff election.<\/p>\n

The businessman and lawyer, whose ventures include a clothing line, wine and rum brands, and a restaurant, earned U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> endorsement despite never having run for office. He defeated progressive lawmaker Iv\u00e1n Cepeda by 1 percentage point, or more than 251,000 votes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Presidential<\/p>\n

Presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella of the opposition Defenders of the Motherland movement speaks to supporters from inside a bulletproof booth at a celebration rally after runoff election results showed him leading in Barranquilla, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/p>\n

Presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella of the opposition Defenders of the Motherland movement speaks to supporters from inside a bulletproof booth at a celebration rally after runoff election results showed him leading in Barranquilla, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/p>\n

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The result effectively was an indictment of outgoing President Gustavo Petro\u2019s government, whose policies Cepeda had promised to continue, including a largely failed effort to establish dialogue with multiple armed groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Electoral authorities published all but a fraction of the vote count hours after polls closed Sunday. Petro and Cepeda did not accept those results, with the latter saying he would wait for a recount to do so. Authorities finished the recount before declaring de la Espriella\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n

De la Espriella\u2019s win adds Colombia<\/a> to a growing list of countries<\/a> that have turned to political outsiders in search for solutions to complex social, security and economic challenges.<\/p>\n

The self-proclaimed representative of \u201cthe never-before-seen\u201d promised voters fearful of renewed internal conflict<\/a> to take a heavy-handed approach to combating violent crime with strategies borrowed from Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele\u2019s playbook, including building mega-prisons. Those tactics have lowered homicide rates in the Central American country but have fueled accusations of human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

Earlier Wednesday, Cepeda conceded the election to de la Espriella and accepted a Senate seat reserved for the runner-up in the presidential contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe assume with serenity, responsibility and absolute resolve \u2014 and let there be no doubt about it \u2014 the role that circumstances demand of us,\u201d Cepeda said in an address to the nation. \u201cWe will exercise a democratic, vigilant and constructive opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Ivan<\/p>\n

Ivan Cepeda concedes defeat in the presidential election at a news conference in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n

Ivan Cepeda concedes defeat in the presidential election at a news conference in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ivan Valencia)<\/p>\n

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De la Espriella, 47, will begin a four-year term Aug. 7. <\/p>\n

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In a statement on Wednesday, his campaign said the president-elect\u2019s \u201cpurpose is to work for national unity, with the people and for the people.\u201d The campaign also stated his government will be committed to guaranteeing \u201cthe right to political opposition and peaceful protest, within the framework of the Constitution, the law and respect for democratic institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

A day earlier, de la Espriella announced he was putting together his cabinet. He also said he plans to add Colombia to the Trump-dubbed \u201cShield of the Americas,\u201d a coalition of countries purportedly aimed at cracking down on criminal groups in Latin America.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Progressive candidate concedes Colombian presidential election to Trump-endorsed outsider\n <\/p>\n

AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports the progressive candidate has conceded Colombia\u2019s president election to a Trump-backed outsider.<\/p>\n

More than 26 million people voted in the polarizing runoff, setting a historic record. Of those, over 426,000 people chose a third, no-name option on the ballot that allows voters to express dislike of both candidates. About 29,000 people cast blank ballots.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Supporters<\/p>\n

Supporters of presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda of the ruling Historic Pact coalition react to early election results after polls closed duuring the runoff election in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n

Supporters of presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda of the ruling Historic Pact coalition react to early election results after polls closed duuring the runoff election in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n

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___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, a millionaire political neophyte, will be Colombia\u2019s next…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":890574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[7373,1613,12575,12576,69,90,57,2055,86,95233,4228,1612,69716,50,136845,4217,67,132,68,107],"class_list":["post-890573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-2026-elections","tag-central-america","tag-colombia","tag-colombia-government","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-general-news","tag-government-and-politics","tag-government-policy","tag-gustavo-petro","tag-indictments","tag-latin-america","tag-nayib-bukele","tag-news","tag-run-off-elections","tag-south-america","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116807873916404158","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/890574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}