Trump-backed right wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella wins runoff election for president of Colombia

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 01:28, 22 June 2026 | Updated: 01:57, 22 June 2026 Abelardo De La Espriella, the Trump-backed candidate for President of Colombia, has declared victory over a candidate backed by the outgoing leftist president. He is leading by less than one percent of the vote against Ivan Cepeda, with nearly all ballot boxes counted, many which were filled out by expats living in America. Cepeda was supported by current President Gustavo Petro, who feuded with Trump earlier this year.   De La Espriella said he had spoken with Trump and that the President offered his congratulations for his win in the presidential race. The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted to X that he had spoken with De La Espriella on Sunday night. '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. Colombia's best days are ahead,' he said. Cepeda has said he would wait for the required verification of ballots from each polling station before recognizing final results. Abelardo De La Espriella, the Trump-backed candidate for President of Colombia, has declared victory over a candidate backed by the outgoing leftist president He is leading by less than one percent of the vote against Ivan Cepeda, with nearly all ballot boxes counted He said while he recognized the initial vote count, he would wait for the final results of the 'escrutinio' — a formal legal check of all the ballots. That process normally takes a few days. After this check is done, he said, he will recognize the official result that comes out of it. He added that his campaign is challenging results from some 33,000 ballot boxes. The crowds can be heard chanting 'Sí, se puede,' meaning 'yes, we can.' Outgoing President Petro has been posting on X. He said that, given the initial vote count is so close, a winner could not be declared yet. Petro said an 'escrutinio' — a formal legal check of all the ballots — would determine the winner. The process normally takes a few days. Cepeda was supported by current President Gustavo Petro (pictured), who feuded with Trump earlier this year Trump endorsed De La ⁠Espriella earlier this week The National Electoral Council makes the final declaration of who has won the election. With almost all the votes counted, De La Espriella leads Cepeda by less than one percentage point. He even went on to suggest Israel was interfering with the vote count.  The options before voters were business owner and lawyer de la Espriella and Cepeda, a lawmaker and heir to the political movement of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, the nation's first leftist leader.  The two defeated nine other contenders in a May 31 vote. Both pitched strategies that they said will prevent the South American country from experiencing the nonstop merciless violence, such as car bombs, kidnappings, disappearances and forced displacements, that Colombians lived with in previous decades.  De la Espriella proposed a heavy-handed approach that earned him the endorsement  Trump.  Trump endorsed De La ⁠Espriella earlier this week. 'The results of this Election are very important to the ⁠future of Colombia and its relationship to ⁠the United States,' Trump said in a Truth social post. Cepeda promised to continue Petro's efforts, including attempts at establishing dialogue with multiple illegal armed groups even though those efforts have largely failed. Colombian flags, waved from cars, and soccer jerseys dotted polling stations and surrounding affluent neighborhoods of Bogotá.  The jersey, popular due to the World Cup, has been used as a campaign symbol by de la Espriella and defended in court after Cepeda criticized its use. In the first round, Cepeda earned 41% of the vote, while de la Espriella garnered 44%, according to official results.  Petro, without evidence, sowed doubts in the results after Cepeda, who had consistently lead polls ahead of the May vote, did not win outright and even finished behind de la Espriella. Petro reiterated his allegations on Sunday. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.