Colombians are voting in a presidential runoff that is expected to trigger a dramatic shift in the country's decades-long armed conflict, now at its most violent point since the 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). Polls show the frontrunner is far-right lawyer and businessman Abelardo de la Espriella, who has vowed to abandon President Gustavo Petro's 'total peace' plan and return to full-scale military confrontation with armed groups.
De la Espriella's platform and opponent
De la Espriella, who admires Donald Trump, promises to restore state control over territories dominated by criminal groups within 90 days, though he later backtracked, telling Radio Caracol: 'I never said I would solve the security problem in 90 days.' He maintains that his goal in his first three months would be to 'capture or kill' 10 major narcoterrorist and organised crime leaders. His opponent is leftwing senator Iván Cepeda, the main architect of 'total peace', who argues for its continuation with 'necessary changes'. Cepeda led polls for most of the campaign but was defeated in the first round three weeks ago and has struggled to attract centrist voters.
President Petro's stance and election controversy
President Petro, who backed Cepeda, displayed his ballot for Cepeda and urged Colombians to 'vote, whatever their choice', while rejecting 'interference by foreign leaders'—a reference to Trump, who endorsed De la Espriella, calling Cepeda a 'radical left Marxist'. Petro also announced he would not accept the preliminary vote count from the National Civil Registry, as he did in the first round, alleging fraud without evidence. He said he would only recognise the official scrutiny process, which takes about two days. Historically, the difference between preliminary and official counts is less than 1%.
Regional far-right trend and voter perspectives
More than 41 million Colombians are eligible to vote. This election is expected to deliver another far-right victory, after Keiko Fujimori in Peru and José Antonio Kast in Chile. A De la Espriella win would leave only Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Guatemala under leftwing governments. Sandra Borda Guzmán, associate professor at Los Andes University, said De la Espriella tapped into anti-establishment sentiment and promised quick solutions to violence. Miguel Bermúdez, a 40-year-old business administrator, said he would vote for De la Espriella because he is an 'outsider'. Kátia Outten, a 57-year-old dentist, said she would vote for Cepeda because 'he understands the needs of ordinary people' and cited De la Espriella's sexist remarks, including a radio interview about his penis size. 'Women make up just over 50% of the population. If we go out and vote with women's empowerment in mind, we can show that all of that rhetoric has no basis,' she said.
