Buenos Aires Herald 
Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella claimed victory in Colombia’s presidential runoff on Sunday after preliminary results showed him narrowly ahead of left-wing rival Iván Cepeda, with 49.6% of the vote.
With nearly all ballots counted, De la Espriella led Cepeda by roughly 250,000 votes, according to electoral authorities.
The wealthy lawyer and political outsider, known by supporters as El Tigre (“The Tiger”), is set to take office on August 7 if the results are confirmed.
Cepeda, who was backed by outgoing President Gustavo Petro — who was constitutionally barred from seeking reelection — acknowledged the preliminary outcome but urged caution, saying the official count had not yet been completed.
He also announced plans to challenge votes cast in approximately 33,000 ballot boxes, more than a quarter of those used nationwide.
Petro echoed those concerns in a post on X, arguing that “no one can yet be declared president” given the narrow margin between the candidates.
“Only the official vote count” can determine who will lead the country, he said.
De la Espriella’s victory
Addressing supporters after the results were announced, De la Espriella called for national unity.
“From this moment on, the election campaign, the slogans, the divisions and the political confrontations come to an end, and the supreme moment of service to the nation begins,” he said.
Speaking from behind bulletproof glass, he told Cepeda that he would have “all guarantees” necessary to carry out the role of opposition leader, provided it remained “within the legal framework.”
At the same time, De la Espriella issued a warning against any attempts to incite unrest.
“Don’t even think about inciting violence; refrain from sowing terror,” he said. “Make no mistake, Mr. Cepeda. You already know how hard the tiger bites.”
Tougher security
De la Espriella campaigned on a sharp break with President Petro’s security strategy, particularly the government’s efforts to negotiate with armed groups as part of the peace process launched after the 2016 agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Addressing supporters after the vote, the president-elect pledged a tougher approach to organized crime and insurgent groups.
“To drug traffickers, terrorists, kidnappers, extortionists and corrupt officials who steal the people’s resources, I am notifying you tonight that Colombia once again has a government,” he said. “All those criminals will be relentlessly pursued under the laws of the Republic.”
“True peace does not come from impunity; true peace comes from justice,” he added.
During the campaign, De la Espriella proposed intensifying military operations against armed groups and adopting a more aggressive strategy against drug-trafficking, which is widely believed to be one of the principal sources of financing for guerrilla and criminal organizations.
The right celebrates
De la Espriella’s victory marks a new chapter in South America’s sharp turn to the right, after a decade of progressive governments in most of the region.
If Keiko Fujimori is confirmed the winner of Peru’s presidential run-off — after weeks of an unusually slow vote count — she and De la Espriella will join a growing list of right-wing leaders in South America, including Argentina’s Javier Milei, Chile’s José Antonio Kast, Paraguay’s Santiago Peña, Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa.
The only remaining left or progressive presidents in the region are Uruguay’s Yamandú Orsi and Lula da Silva in Brazil, although the country will celebrate elections in October.
While Venezuela’s current leader Delcy Rodríguez was formerly part of socialist Nicolás Maduro’s government, she has sided with United States President Donald Trump since Maduro was captured by the U.S. earlier this year.
Colombia’s election also reflected a trend seen across much of South America in recent years: increasingly polarized electorates and closely contested races between candidates from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
President Javier Milei congratulated De la Espriella, saying that “most Colombians chose the path of economic freedom” and declaring that “the lion and the tiger roar in Latin America,” a reference to the two leaders’ respective nicknames.
Other right-wing leaders like Kast, Noboa and Venezuelan María Corina Machado celebrated the result. “He Won, Big!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night, referring to De la Espriella.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said he had spoken with the candidate to congratulate him and said that “Colombia’s best days are ahead.”
“The Trump administration looks forward to working closely with your incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen our economic ties,” Rubio wrote on X.
