Colombia’s runoff expected to shift decades-long armed conflict

Colombians go to the polls on Sunday in a presidential runoff that could prompt a dramatic change in the country’s decades-long armed conflict, which has become the most violent since the 2016 peace agreement with most of the Farc. The frontrunner is Trump-admiring far-right lawyer and millionaire 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.

He at one point said he would restore state control over territories dominated by criminal groups within 90 days, a claim he later softened, and has said his early aim would be to “capture or kill” 10 major narcoterrorist and organised crime leaders. De la Espriella began his legal career defending leaders of rightwing paramilitary militias, and analysts say he has appealed as an anti-establishment outsider promising quick solutions.

Colombia

colombia, presidential runoff, abelardo espriella, gustavo petro, farc, peace agreement, armed conflict, paramilitary militias, organised crime, narcoterrorist