Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella has narrowly won Colombia's presidential election, according to an initial vote count, as voters bet on his promise of a crackdown on crime and a stronger economy.
De La Espriella had 49.66% of the vote while his rival, Senator Ivan Cepeda, trailed by some 250,000 votes at 48.70%, according to the national registrar's tally of just under 100% of ballots in the runoff election.
Mr Cepeda, 63, had campaigned on a pledge to continue the policies of President Gustavo Petro, the country's first leftist president and a former rebel. These included state pension payments for the poor, union-backed labour reforms, a moratorium on new oil projects, and ongoing peace talks with armed groups.
De La Espriella - who received the backing of President Donald Trump - has blamed Petro for the country's economic and security troubles, including an expansion of armed groups. He had vowed to end talks with rebels and criminal organisations, while simultaneously boosting the oil and gas sector, reducing taxes, and cutting the size of the state by up to 40 per cent.
However, he has indicated he will maintain Mr Petro's 23 per cent minimum wage increase and other popular social initiatives. "I will govern for all Colombians, for those who voted for me and for those who chose the other candidate," Mr De La Espriella told supporters in Barranquilla, promising to uphold all citizens' rights.
The closeness of the race, with less than one percentage point separating the two candidates, will likely force De La Espriella to water down some of his proposals in order to get support from a divided Congress.
Cepeda's Historic Pact party has more seats than any other party in both the Senate and the lower house, although no party has a majority.
Mr De La Espriella, a lawyer with no prior political experience, will also face the significant challenge of high public debt. While he has presented himself as a businessman, an investigation by local outlet La Silla Vacia found that many of his businesses have been dissolved, are in debt, and recorded overall losses in 2024, with his law firm being his most profitable venture.
More than 26.3 million Colombians cast ballots of the 41.4 million eligible to vote. Some 427,000 voters turned in blank ballots, usually seen as a protest vote, the registrar figures showed.
Mr Cepeda told his supporters at an event in Bogota that he would await a final, ballot-by-ballot verification of the initial count, stating his campaign is challenging results from approximately 33,000 of the 122,000 ballot boxes.
He emphasised that his supporters represent a significant political force and must have a voice.
"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," Mr Cepeda said.
Many Cepeda supporters expressed fears that Mr De La Espriella’s aggressive rhetoric regarding armed groups could plunge the country back into a more active conflict. Colombia has endured over 60 years of conflict involving leftist guerrillas, crime gangs founded by former right-wing paramilitaries, and the state.
Recent elections across South America have seen right-wing presidents elected in Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Ecuador.
In Peru, where votes from a 7 June contest are still being tallied, conservative Keiko Fujimori, daughter of Alberto Fujimori, who served 16 years in prison for human rights abuses, appears poised to win the presidency after three previous unsuccessful attempts.
