2 hours ago
8
BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Iván Cepeda, an state of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, refused to instantly judge the effect of the archetypal circular of voting aft falling down a tough-on-crime outsider Aberaldo de la Espriella successful Sunday's election.
Cepeda and de la Espriella are slated to caput to a run-off predetermination June. But Cepeda and Petro connected Sunday nighttime sowed uncertainty successful the effect and claimed without grounds that hundreds of thousands of votes were manipulated and that overseas actors manipulated the results of the election.
Cepeda said helium was waiting for electoral authorities to scrutinise the results earlier accepting the election.
“We volition not remark connected tonight’s results until the vote-counting committees person afloat clarified this matter,” Cepeda said.
Cepeda won 41% of the vote, portion de la Espriella won 44% of the votes, according to electoral authorities.
Cepeda was consistently starring polls successful the tally up to the Sunday vote, but successful the weeks starring up to the predetermination de la Espriella rapidly gained enactment with a committedness that helium would ace down connected equipped groups.
Despite that, helium appeared to admit that the ballot was going to a runoff election, saying “we are going to triumph successful the 2nd round.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier communicative follows below.
BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Tough-on-crime lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and peace-builder Iván Cepeda were starring the ballot number successful the archetypal circular of Colombia’s statesmanlike predetermination connected Sunday, and are to look disconnected successful a runoff successful the South American federation aboriginal successful June.
De la Espriella — a newcomer known arsenic “El Tigre, oregon “The Tiger” — has sought to represent himself arsenic a protagonist of U.S. President Donald Trump, vowing to ace down connected transgression groups.
He leads the contention with astir 44% of the votes, Colombia’s electoral authorities said precocious Sunday, but fell abbreviated of the 50% needed to triumph successful the archetypal round.
Second is Cepeda, a progressive legislator and an state of Colombia's outgoing President Gustavo Petro who has promised to transportation connected a fraught propulsion for “total peace.” Cepeda scooped up conscionable nether 41% of the vote. Petro refused to judge the results of the predetermination Sunday nighttime successful a station connected the societal media level X, claiming without grounds that the results were manipulated by extracurricular actors and that the results were “not binding.”
Paloma Valencia, a campaigner for Colombia’s constitution enactment who pitched herself arsenic a centrist, got little than 7% of the vote.
While Cepeda coasted comfortably up successful polls passim the campaign, helium was neck-and-neck with de la Espriella connected Sunday night, which is apt to spell occupation for the June runoff, wherever de la Espriella is apt to scoop up galore of the voters that threw their enactment down Valencia.
De la Espriella and his supporters celebrated connected Sunday nighttime astatine their run office successful the coastal metropolis of Barranquilla.
“In 21 days we’re going to alteration the past of Colombia,” helium said triumphantly.
Colombian voters are weighing bid deals oregon a crackdown
Voters crossed Latin America are progressively ditching leaders that pitched progressive policies aimed astatine addressing the basal issues of conflict, specified arsenic deficiency of opportunities for young radical and corruption. Instead, voters person progressively turned to candidates promising heavy-handed information crackdowns.
The polarized ballot comes arsenic the Trump medication is playing a much assertive relation successful Latin America than immoderate U.S. authorities successful decades, placing mounting unit connected countries similar Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador to ace down connected crime.
The predetermination has besides underscored 2 sharply diverging visions for the aboriginal of bid successful a state marked by years of conflict.
On 1 side, Cepeda has promised to proceed Petro’s progressive docket and a mostly failed effort of trying to negociate bid pacts with equipped groups, pursuing a program that’s apt to sharply opposition with Trump’s imaginativeness for Latin America.
On the different side, de la Espriella has promised to fiercely ace down connected transgression groups and physique 10 mega-prisons, pursuing successful a akin vein arsenic El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele successful his warfare connected gangs, which has fueled accusations of quality rights abuses.
“Today’s predetermination isn’t conscionable important for us, it’s important for each of Latin America,” said Juan Acevedo, a 62-year-old sociologist walking retired of a voting presumption successful Colombia’s superior connected Sunday morning. “Whoever wins present volition suggest to the portion if progressive policies volition proceed oregon if things are going to instrumentality to the right.”
A ballot seen arsenic a referendum connected Petro
The predetermination — 10 years aft Colombia signed an historical bid pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, oregon FARC — arsenic seen arsenic a referendum connected Petro’s policies.
The woody a decennary agone had offered anticipation to interruption the nation’s vicious rhythm of warring betwixt rebel groups and the government. But unit has since roared back, successful portion due to the fact that equipped groups person taken vantage of bid negotiations with Petro's authorities to marque territorial gains.
That came to a caput successful the lead-up to the election. Criminal groups person progressively launched drone strikes, equipped attacks person plagued the contention and past June, 39-year-old person and statesmanlike hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was fatally changeable astatine a governmental rally. Still, Cepeda and Petro person maintained beardown enactment among galore due to the fact that of progressive policies pushed guardant nether Petro, specified arsenic boosting the minimum wage.
Both de la Espriella and Valencia person touted their affinity for Trump, though Valencia’s electoral nonaccomplishment dealt different stroke to a erstwhile almighty governmental existent known arsenic Uribismo.
Colombians are divided connected the mode forward
Maria Eugenia, a 57-year-old seamstress connected Friday successful downtown Bogotá, Colombia's capital, said she welcomed an all-out violative connected an expanding slate of transgression groups, careless of the quality cost.
While she approved of Petro’s pushes to amended the country's aesculapian infrastructure, she said she was voting for de la Espriella due to the fact that unit successful agrarian areas of the state has gotten retired of hand. She said negotiating bid pacts was simply “rewarding” equipped groups.
“Of course, whenever you travel down with a dense hand, there’s ever going to beryllium debate,” she said. “But immoderate radical are going to person to autumn to cleanable up what needs to beryllium cleaned.”
Others, similar Acevedo, the sociologist, said a information crackdown specified arsenic the 1 promoted by de la Espriella meant a instrumentality to past subject campaigns that helium said lone reinforced Colombia's rhythm of violence.
He said helium supports Cepeda, adding that portion the authorities hasn't done a cleanable occupation — failing to walk ambitious reforms and travel done connected promises to trim unit — it was amended to proceed pushing guardant with their governmental coalition's efforts to instrumentality a antithetic attack successful addressing the country's violence.
He added that his main critique of Petro's medication was the powerfulness grabs made by transgression groups arsenic they negotiated with the government. He said helium hoped that if Cepeda won, helium would onslaught a amended equilibrium betwixt negotiating bid and maintaining power implicit those groups.
“We're a state that has lived done 60 years of conflict,” Acevedo said. “The information present is that we instrumentality to the times wherever everyone is saying that the lone mode to lick our problems is with bullets and much war.”
___
Follow AP’s sum of Latin America and the Caribbean astatine https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
English (US) ·