Ultra De la Espriella wins the elections in Colombia by a narrow margin

Only 250,000 votes separated the winner, Abelardo de la Espriella, from his main rival, the left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda, in the second round of the presidential elections held this Sunday in Colombia. De la Espriella, a controversial criminal lawyer who favors following the ultra-policies of countries like El Salvador or Argentina, will be the new Colombian president, confirming the radical shift that, election after election, is emerging in America. However, the narrow margin of victory (49.6% of the votes compared to 48.7% for Cepeda) predicts uncertain days for the country, as the results are not yet official and the final count, which may still take time to arrive, will have to be awaited. The officialist candidate, Ivan Cepeda, acknowledged De la Espriella's victory this Sunday, but at the same time stated that it will be necessary to wait and that Sunday's data "are not binding." President Petro himself, who supported Cepeda, has asked for "calm" from the citizens and stated that "no one can proclaim themselves president".

De la Espriella thus joins the increasingly numerous ultra leaders in America. An avowed admirer of Donald Trump, Javier Milei, and Nayib Bukele, he presents himself as a political outsider, a strong and transgressive man, backed by his success as a young entrepreneur who built his fortune with businesses selling clothes, whisky, and precious stones in the United States, eventually forming a conglomerate of companies in the real estate, food, and livestock sectors. All this, before becoming a media lawyer. Among his clients, he had defended drug traffickers in Miami, or Alex Saab, the Venezuelan extradited to the United States accused of being Nicolás Maduro's frontman, and Colombians linked to paramilitarism or accused of corruption. He also defended communities affected by the environmental impact of the Cerro Matoso nickel mine.

This second round saw record participation of 63.59%: more than 26.3 million people went to vote. The far-right candidate received 12.9 million ballots, according to preliminary figures. In fact, the sum of null and unmarked votes is equivalent to 0.94%, which is almost the difference De la Espriella has over Cepeda.

Historically, electoral participation in Colombia ranges between 50% and 55%, so these elections mark an important milestone in the country.