De La Espriella wins narrow Colombia runoff, initial count shows

Far-right lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella won Colombia’s presidential runoff by a narrow margin, according to an initial count released by electoral authorities. The result signals a return to power for Colombia’s right after the presidency of Gustavo Petro, the country’s first leftist leader.

Electoral authorities said De La Espriella received 49.7% of the vote, while left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda took 48.70%, with 99.9% of results released early Monday. More than 26.3 million people voted out of 41.4 million eligible Colombians, according to figures reported by AFP and Reuters.

De La Espriella told supporters in Barranquilla, “I will govern for all Colombians.” He also celebrated a congratulatory call from United States President Donald Trump, according to Reuters. De La Espriella is a citizen of Colombia, the US and Italy and has homes in several countries, Reuters reported.

A rightward shift after Petro

Cepeda, 63, had promised to continue Petro’s agenda, including social programmes and peace talks with armed groups, according to AFP and Reuters. De La Espriella campaigned against Petro’s record, blaming him for Colombia’s economic and security problems and pledging to halt negotiations with rebel groups.

De La Espriella also promised to expand the oil and gas sector and cut taxes, according to Reuters. His win returns the right to the presidency in a country where right-wing forces have governed for nearly all of the past two centuries, AFP and Reuters reported.

The closeness of the vote could limit De La Espriella’s room to act in Congress, where he will need support from divided lawmakers, according to Reuters. He has no previous political experience and will take office with Colombia facing high public debt.

De La Espriella has presented himself as a businessman. Colombian outlet La Silla Vacía reported that many of his companies have been dissolved, carry debt or have lost money overall.

Major business guilds congratulated De La Espriella, while celebrations took place in upper- and middle-class areas of Bogotá and Medellín, Reuters reported. Viviana Olivos, a 46-year-old mechanical engineer at the Barranquilla celebration, told Reuters: “It is a victory for Colombia – a change after four lost years with no clear direction.”

Cepeda seeks review

Cepeda told supporters in Bogotá that he would wait for a final ballot-by-ballot review of the initial count. His campaign is contesting results from about 33,000 of the country’s 122,000 ballot boxes, according to Reuters.

“We are open to dialogue; we are willing to reach agreements as long as they are respectful, genuine, and reflected in political actions that benefit the nation and preserve the historical progress we have already achieved,” Cepeda said.

Security was a leading issue for many De La Espriella voters, especially in areas where extortion and drug trafficking have increased recently, Reuters reported. Leftist armed groups and criminal gangs rooted in former right-wing paramilitary networks have fought each other and the state for more than 60 years, according to AFP and Reuters.

During the campaign, De La Espriella said he would end talks with dissident groups and begin a 90-day campaign of US-backed air attacks against them. Reuters reported that although much of Colombia has prospered since the 2016 peace accord with the FARC, cartels and dissident factions still control parts of the country.

“Rancour has won again. Unfortunately, we are in a country where differences continue,” Cepeda supporter Margarita Restrepo told Reuters. Restrepo wore a photo of her daughter, Carol Vanessa Restrepo, who disappeared in 2002 during a security operation ordered by former President Álvaro Uribe, a De La Espriella supporter and longtime opponent of Cepeda.

Colombia’s vote follows recent right-wing victories in Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Ecuador, according to AFP and Reuters.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.