Espriella wins Colombia's first-round presidential vote, faces Cepeda in runoff

Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer, won the first round of Colombia’s presidential election and will face senator Iván Cepeda in a runoff on 21 June. With 100% of ballots counted, Espriella secured 43.7% (just over 10.3m votes) to Cepeda’s 40.9% (about 9.6m votes).

Cepeda, backed by leftwing president Gustavo Petro, is a philosopher and human rights activist who has served as a senator since 2014. Espriella’s surge surprised many: polls in recent weeks had shown him trailing until his rapid rise, and he appears to have consolidated much of the vote that had been going to the rightwing senator Paloma Valencia, who finished on 6.9%.

Calling himself el Tigre, Espriella celebrated the result in a video alongside his wife and children, saying more than 10 million Colombians had placed their trust in him and vowing that in 21 days they would change the history of Colombia. Valencia acknowledged the result and endorsed Espriella for the runoff.

Colombia

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