BOGOTA (Realist English). On June 21, 2026, Colombia made a sharp political turn: ultra-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, a lawyer with no political experience, won the second round of the presidential elections.
His victory, with a narrow margin of 0.96 percentage points (49.66% vs 48.70% for leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda), was the tightest result in the country’s modern history. The president-elect will take office on August 7, 2026.
De la Espriella’s victory is not just a change of power in Bogotá. It is further confirmation of the rightward shift in Latin America, coinciding with Donald Trump’s second term.
Trump himself, who actively intervened in the campaign, called his “candidate’s” victory “HUGE!”, while the White House promised to “build strong relations” with the new Colombian leader. Washington appears intent on forgetting the years of tension with outgoing leftist President Gustavo Petro.
“El Tigro”: From Defending Drug Lords to the Presidential Office
De la Espriella is 47 years old. By profession, he is a lawyer who spent many years handling high-profile criminal cases. His client list includes Alex Saab, an ally of deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accused in the US of money laundering, and one of Colombia’s biggest fraudsters.
Critics claim that in the early 2000s he provided legal and political support to paramilitary groups, although de la Espriella himself calls this his work as a lawyer.
In 2024, he founded his own movement, “Defenders of the Homeland,” and began his political career from scratch.
His meteoric rise was made possible by his vibrant populist image: at rallies, he appears in the national team jersey, behind bulletproof glass, and his mascot is a tiger. He calls himself “El Tigro.”
His campaign, filled with AI-generated videos and aggressive anti-Petro slogans, turned him into “something of a celebrity.”
Program: Iron Fist, “Mega-Prisons” and Break with “Total Peace”
De la Espriella’s key campaign promises are in the spirit of “law and order”:
- A hardline approach to security. He promised to launch a military campaign against illegal armed groups, drug trafficking and crime. At the centre of his programme is the construction of 10 “mega-prisons” modelled on El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele earned popularity for his tough crackdown on gangs.
- Rejection of “Total Peace.” De la Espriella intends to abandon the policy of dialogue with guerrillas and drug cartels that Petro pursued.
- Return to alliance with the US. He wants Washington to once again become Colombia’s “big brother” and help in military operations against drug trafficking. This is a direct contrast to Petro, under whom relations with Trump deteriorated to the limit.
- Populist economics and anti-corruption. He promises to save the country from the “economic devastation” caused by the left.
Election Results and Threat of Challenge
De la Espriella won by a narrow margin — about 250,000 votes out of 41 million voters. Turnout was nearly 64% — one of the highest in the country’s history.
His opponent, Iván Cepeda, said he would only recognise the official results and promised to challenge the outcome at 33,000 polling stations. Outgoing President Gustavo Petro also called for an audit, citing “compromised” polling stations.
De la Espriella, for his part, warned his opponents: “Do not provoke a social explosion, respect the people’s verdict — there will be no third round on the streets.” Amid the polarisation, fears of unrest are growing in the country.
Latin American Trend: Another Right-Wing Victory
De la Espriella’s victory fits into a broader Latin American trend: since Trump’s return to power, right-wing forces have already won in Bolivia, Chile and Honduras.
As Benjamin Gedan, an expert at the Washington-based Stimson Centre, notes, the decisive factors were fear of crime and voting against incumbent leftist governments.
De la Espriella and Trump are “ideological twins”: both rely on tough rhetoric, strict border control and combating the “leftist threat.” Their alliance promises to return US-Colombian relations to the traditional track of military-political cooperation.
The question is whether “El Tigro” can cope with the long-running conflict and economic problems that have broken more than one of his predecessors.
