Colombians return to the polls on Sunday for a presidential runoff between a far-right agitator who calls himself “Tiger” and left-wing senators from the ruling party. This campaign reflects a completely different vision for the country and could redefine Bogotá’s relationship with the United States.
Sunday’s election came after far-right outsider Abelardo de la Espriela performed well in the first round of voting in May, winning 43.74% of the vote. Iván Cepeda, a leftist candidate from the ruling Coalition for the Historical Pact, backed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, came in second with just under 41% of the vote.
Neither party was able to secure the majority needed for an outright victory, and they are facing off in the second round.
Immediately after the election, Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he supported de la Espriera “totally and completely” because of her “significant life accomplishments and personal political support of me.”
Experts say the elections come amid heightened political tensions and polarization in the country, with the collapse of the political center and escalating political violence.
Who are the candidates?
De la Espriela ran a campaign based on spectacle. He has relied on AI-generated content to record music, promote his rum brand, and connect with his audience on social media. Political analyst Miguel Luján told CNN there was no doubt that de la Espriela’s showmanship was a factor in his lead in the first round.
A dual citizen of Colombia and the United States, de la Espriela believes in an “iron fist” approach to crime and corruption. He spoke favorably of Trump’s policies and vowed to build a giant prison for Colombian criminal leaders, similar to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. His campaign also advocates free market economic policies, touting smaller states, lower taxes and resource extraction as means to restore order and growth.
Before entering politics, he spent his career as a prominent criminal defense attorney representing several controversial clients, including Alex Saab, an alleged financier and close ally of Venezuela’s deposed strongman Nicolas Maduro.
The 47-year-old has never held elected office and is eligible to vote through signatures from the people of the country rather than from any major political party.
Mr. de la Espriela has run on a culture war platform, positioning himself as a defender of the “traditional family,” while his campaign has opposed abortion, same-sex adoption and “gender ideology.” He also said he would govern through emergency legislation to take swift action against crime.
In an interview with CNN last month, the far-right candidate emphasized his ties to like-minded political circles in Washington and said he was confident they could fully restore diplomatic relations with the United States and jointly confront Colombia’s security crisis.
His rival, Iván Cepeda, is aiming to mobilize Petro’s existing supporters rather than courting voters beyond Petro. He is the son of an assassinated senator from the Patriotic Alliance (a left-wing party formed in the 1980s during a peace process involving the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the Communist Party, known by the acronym FARC). Cepeda and her family lived in exile in Europe for years, where she built a career as a human rights defender and later became a senator.
The senator received more votes than Petro received in the first round in 2022, but fell short of the decisive victory the government had hoped for. He cast Mr. de la Espriera as a “throwback” and said his opponent’s supporters represented the “fascist far right.”
He has focused his campaign on fighting inequality, deepening land reform and fighting corruption. He has also criticized decades of U.S.-backed counter-drug policies and opposed military intervention in Latin America, reflecting a more skeptical view of the U.S. regional security agenda.
Cepeda defines himself as a humanist, shaped by decades of human rights work. In an interview with CNN in late May, he ruled out staying in power permanently, saying four years would be enough and that he “strongly believes in democratic succession.”
Cepeda also said he would maintain some of Petro’s social agenda after a series of scandals marred the outgoing government, hinting at changes to the government’s security strategy and a renewed fight against corruption. He said Colombia faced “immense challenges” and talks with armed groups must produce “clear results.”
What are the main issues?
Petro, who is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election, has launched a 2022 policy of “total peace” to address Colombia’s long-running armed conflict, in which rebels, guerrilla groups and criminal gangs fight for control of territory.
Luis Villamarín, a former Colombian army colonel and security analyst, said nearly four years into Petro’s presidency, Colombians have seen little evidence that the strategy delivered the security benefits it promised, and that its failures are now shaping the presidential campaign.
“What we’re seeing is not a smaller war; it’s the same war divided into more groups,” he said.
Since a landmark peace agreement in 2016, Colombia’s conflict has become even more fragmented. The International Committee of the Red Cross has announced that 2025 will be the worst year for civilians in a decade, with more than 900 people killed or injured by explosives. Last August, the assassination of center-right presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay while holding a rally in the capital Bogota shocked the country and became a symbol of Petro’s shortcomings in the fight against crime.
For de la Espriela, the resurgence in violence is evidence that Colombia needs to return to a more assertive military approach. Meanwhile, Cepeda acknowledged that “full peace” has not been reached, but insisted that negotiations continue to be needed in conflicts that are too fragmented to be resolved by force alone.
Mr. de la Espriera has called for the use of aggressive military tactics against armed groups, including a controversial bombing campaign in coordination with the United States, a ban on the import of precursors used to make fentanyl as part of what he calls “Plan Colombia 2.0,” and the creation of specialized units to arrest extortion gang leaders.
Mr. Cepeda said Colombia could not simply build up its military and get out of the conflict, offering a middle-ground approach that preserves dialogue and calls for stronger enforcement and more visible results. He pledged to draw a “red line” in any negotiations with groups that continue to assassinate social leaders, telling CNN that negotiations must yield “clear results,” but offered few specifics on how he would enforce those standards.
Safety isn’t the only thing voters are concerned about. Analysts say Colombians’ concerns have shifted to the current state of the health care system after the Petro government’s failure to implement public health reforms.
Venezuela is also concerned about the race. Alejo Vargas, a political scientist and professor at Colombia’s National University, told CNN that the crisis in the neighboring country has many Colombians worried that a second left-wing government will condemn the country to its neighbour’s fate. Those fears have been exacerbated by Petro’s aid to Caracas, which opposition parties have denounced.
Drama was essential to the election. Although he, along with Petro, initially expressed concerns about the preliminary results of the first round, Cepeda accepted the results. Election authorities and international observers have repeatedly defended the integrity of the process.
Last week, a lawmaker sparked a firestorm with a legally impossible attempt to suspend Petro until after the election. Analysts say Mr. Petro will be a key figure in the run-off, attacking Mr. de la Espriela’s camp while promoting Mr. Cepeda.
Still, de la Espriela heads into the second round with both momentum and math on his side. His number of votes in the first round has already reached a majority, and conservatives are rapidly trying to solidify his support. Paloma Valencia, who finished a distant third with less than 7% of the vote, announced her support for him within hours of the results, as did former president Álvaro Uribe.
The road in Cepeda is even steeper. Analysts broadly agree that he has run a campaign based on mobilizing Petro’s existing base, rather than reaching beyond it, and has less room for growth than his rivals.
Regardless of the outcome, this election has already redrawn Colombia’s political map. “What we’re seeing is less polarization and more an escalation of the political landscape,” Sandra Borda, a political scientist at Los Andes University, told CNN.
“The peace process has gained a lot of ground for the left; and to the same degree, inevitably, it has (gained) ground for the right.”
