Trump admirer’s surprise first-round win weakens Colombia’s traditional conservatives

Abelardo de la Espriella and Iván Cepeda have just under three weeks to compete for roughly 3.6m votes that did not go to either of them in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election. De la Espriella led by little more than 670,000 votes, taking 43.7% to Cepeda’s 40.9%.

Polls had shown the wealthy lawyer gaining ground but had consistently indicated a solid lead for the senator backed by President Gustavo Petro, making the outcome a surprise to many. An admirer of Donald Trump, De la Espriella campaigned amid a string of controversies and promised to end Colombia’s armed conflict within 90 days.

His lead is being read as a sign that the radical right has overtaken traditional conservative forces after the collapse of Paloma Valencia’s candidacy; a loyal follower of Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Valencia finished with just 6.9% of the vote.

Colombia

espriella, cepeda, colombia, presidential election, first round, trump admirer, radical right, traditional conservatives, paloma valencia, álvaro uribe