Trump-backed Abelardo de la Espriella held a razor-thin lead in Colombia’s presidential election with nearly all the votes counted Sunday, in a runoff vote marked by people’s fears of a renewed internal conflict.
Background
A victory by de la Espriella would effectively be an indictment of the policies of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, whose protégé had promised to continue his agenda if he defeated his rival, who is backed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
De la Espriella, a businessman and lawyer who earned Trump’s endorsement despite never having run for office, led progressive lawmaker Iván Cepeda, taking 49.7% of the votes, according to 99.9% complete results released by electoral authorities. Cepeda, Petro’s ally, earned 48.7% support.
Challenges and Violence
Election officials have not formally announced a winner. Even before the result was known, Petro had already vowed to challenge it, and after the results were known, Cepeda said his team will challenge the results from more than 30,000 voting stations.
No recount has flipped the results of a presidential election in Colombian history. People in the streets of Bogota yelled “Petro out! Petro out!” and honked car horns.
Both pitched voters widely different strategies to prevent the South American country from experiencing the nonstop, merciless violence, such as car bombs, kidnappings, disappearances and forced displacements, that Colombians lived with in previous decades.
De la Espriella’s Plans
De la Espriella, 47, promised a heavy-handed approach to crime-fighting, including drug trafficking. He also said he plans to end Petro’s attempts to establish parallel peace negotiations with multiple armed groups – an effort that has largely failed – and build mega-prisons, emulating Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s aggressive policies.
Those tactics have lowered homicide rates in the Central American country but have fueled accusations of human rights abuses. De la Espriella, nicknamed “The Tiger,” holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship, is a Trump supporter, and a member of the Republican Party.
Original reporting: KCCI Des Moines — read the source article.
