Far-right lawyer and Donald Trump admirer Abelardo de la Espriella won the first round of Colombia’s presidential election on Sunday. According to Guardian, he secured 43.7 percent of the vote – around 10.3 million ballots – narrowly ahead of Senator Iván Cepeda, the candidate of leftist Gustavo Petro, who received 40.9 percent (about 9.6 million votes).
The runoff between Espriella and Cepeda will take place on June 21. Espriella, who calls himself “el Tigre” (the Tiger), celebrated the result in a video with his family: “Countrymen, defenders of the fatherland, more than 10 million Colombians have placed their trust in the Tiger and joined the pack… In 21 days, we will change Colombia’s history forever.”
Gustavo Petro criticized the preliminary results from the National Civil Registry Authority, the independent public body responsible for organizing elections, on X. He wrote: “As president, I do not accept the preliminary results.”
Espriella, a political outsider, has surged rapidly in recent polls. He appears to have consolidated much of the vote from right-wing Senator Paloma Valencia, who at times polled above 20 percent but only achieved 6.9 percent on Sunday.
Source: www.theguardian.com
