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Sunday’s presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella is leading his leftist rival in almost every vote counted, as voters bet on his promises to tackle crime and improve the struggling economy.
De la Espriella had 49.7 percent of the votes, while his opponent, Sen. Iván Cepeda, on the left, was behind 248,000 votes with 48.7 percent, according to preliminary figures from the country’s national registrar.
Cepeda, 63, has vowed to continue the policies of President Gustavo Petro, a former rebel and the country’s first left-wing president, including pensions for the poor, union-backed labor reforms, peace talks with armed groups that have fought the regime for decades and the halting of new oil projects.
De la Espriella blames Petro for the country’s economic and security problems and has vowed to end peace talks with rebels and gangs, strengthen the oil and gas sector, reduce taxes and reduce the size of the state by 40 percent. But he said he would keep Petro’s 23 percent increase in the minimum wage, as well as other popular means of communication.
“It’s a victory for Colombia – change after four lost years without a clear path,” said Viviana Olivos, a 46-year-old mechanical engineer, when she met with other supporters of de la Espriella on the beach in Barranquilla, where she is expected to appear.
The 47-year-old lawyer, who has no political experience, will have to deal with high public debt and a divided Congress, which could hamper reform proposals.
More than 41 million Colombians are eligible to vote, with more than 26.2 million votes cast. About 420,000 voters returned blank ballots, often seen as a protest vote, the registrar’s figures showed.
Supporters of Cepeda remain hopeful that the necessary verification of votes from each polling station, which in the first round showed little difference in the first count, will give them victory. Previously, Petro posted videos on social media that showed cases of fraud, adding that because the race was close, the country will have to wait for the final inspection and counting of votes.
“We hope that now, with the counting of the votes and the work of the lawyers, the votes can still be found,” said Yesin Moreno, a 32-year-old audiovisual director, while waiting for Cepeda at the event in Bogota, the country’s capital.
In the highlands of Bogota, fans cheered and honked their horns.
The peace talks initiated by Petro have been largely unsuccessful as armed groups have grown in strength and numbers, and drug-trafficking groups have proliferated, leading to an increase in killings and extortion on the Caribbean coast.
De la Espriella cast Petro and Cepeda, the son of a slain communist leader, as friends of criminals, even though Petro’s bosses claim to have seized more cocaine than any other government. Cepeda dismissed these allegations, saying that there is no evidence for them.
Cepeda criticized de la Espriella’s work as a lawyer for people arrested in right-wing military organizations and on corruption charges, including Alex Saab, who is facing charges in the United States for allegedly embezzling money from ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
De la Espriella says his professional relationship does not involve involvement or crime.
US President Donald Trump has moved to expand his country’s presence and influence in the region, including arresting Maduro, conducting deadly strikes on small boats in the Caribbean – which he accuses of drug trafficking without evidence – and creating the Shield of the Americas, a military coalition of right-wing leaders committed to fighting drug trafficking.
Trump, who has clashed publicly with Petro, endorsed de la Espriella this month, saying the results of Sunday’s race are “very important for the future of Colombia and its relationship with the United States.”
