Colombia runoff: De la Espriella vs Cepeda on peace vs
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- Abelardo de la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer who launched his career defending rightwing paramilitary leaders, is the frontrunner after trailing Iván Cepeda for most of the campaign; Cepeda is Petro's chosen successor and led polls until losing the first round three weeks ago.
- De la Espriella has vowed to abandon Petro's "total peace" negotiations with criminal groups and return to full-scale military confrontation; Cepeda argues for continuing the plan with "necessary changes," while the conflict is at its most violent point since the 2016 Farc peace agreement.
- President Petro displayed his ballot for Cepeda, rejected "interference by foreign leaders," and announced he would not recognize the National Civil Registry's preliminary count — only the official scrutiny — repeating his evidence-free first-round fraud allegations that drew criticism from election experts.
- Donald Trump endorsed De la Espriella this week and called Cepeda a "radical left Marxist"; De la Espriella has also received Trump's public backing, framing the race in part around that US endorsement.
- De la Espriella promised to restore state control over criminal-dominated territories within 90 days — a pledge he appeared to partially backtrack on in a Radio Caracol interview — and to "capture or kill" 10 major crime leaders in his first three months.
- A De la Espriella victory would leave only Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay and Guatemala under leftwing governments in Latin America, following recent far-right wins in Peru and Chile; more than 41 million Colombians are eligible to vote, with polls closing at 4pm local time.
Why it matters: More than 41 million voters are choosing between scrapping and continuing Petro's negotiation-based security strategy as violence hits its worst level since the 2016 Farc accord; a De la Espriella win would pivot Colombia toward military confrontation, reshape the regional left-right balance, and test whether Petro's refusal to accept preliminary results foreshadows a contested outcome.
