Colombia Elects Far-Right Outsider as New President
Abelardo de la Espriella has won Colombia's presidential election. He is a lawyer with no political experience.
He got 49.65% of votes or 12.91 million votes. His rival Iván Cepeda got 48.7% or 12.67 million votes.
The gap between them was 248,310 votes. De la Espriella admires Trump and calls himself an outsider.
Multiple news outlets describe him as far-right. His win moves Colombia's politics to the right.
Cepeda is a left-wing senator who supported outgoing President Petro. After losing Cepeda raised concerns about the vote count.
He filed a complaint with Colombia's top law office. He also filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court. The complaint accused De la Espriella of links to armed groups.
Klear Note — Colombia's presidential elections happen every four years. This was a very close race between two opposing candidates.
Key Terms 4
- Presidential runoff A second vote between the top two candidates after no one won outright
- Far-right A political position favouring strong national control and opposing left-wing policies
- International Criminal Court A global court that investigates serious crimes by individuals
- Paramilitary groups Unofficial armed groups that operate outside the regular military