Right and left will dispute runoff in Colombia; Petro contests result

Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella (43.74%) and leftist Iván Cepeda (40.9%) will contest the second round of Colombia's presidential elections on June 21, following first-round results held on Sunday (31). De la Espriella, a 47-year-old lawyer and businessman who presents himself as a political outsider, received support from former president Álvaro Uribe for the runoff. ✓

President Gustavo Petro contested the first-round result, alleging irregularities in the counting process. "Como presidente, no acepto los resultados eleitorales realizados pela empresa privada dos irmãos Bautista, porque los algoritmos del software de contaje fueron modificados tres veces en la última semana, adicionando 800 mil registros de personas que no constaban en el censo oficial," Petro declared. Cepeda, a senator allied with Petro, said he intends to investigate the discrepancy of 850,000 people in the electoral census. ≈

De la Espriella's campaign has been compared to the model of other far-right Latin American leaders, being described by analysts as a "Bukele plagiarist" for his promises of a hard line on public security. The candidate has already declared early victory, stating that "we will change Colombia's history forever" and that he will defeat "tyranny and absolutism" in the second round. ✓

A secondary controversy emerged when De la Espriella and his family appeared wearing Colombian national team jerseys at a campaign event, on the eve of the World Cup. Cepeda accused his rival of "stealing" the national symbol, questioning "since when is Colombia's National Team the patrimony of Mr. De la Espriella's campaign." The Colombian Football Federation asked to keep the entity "on the margins of political debates." ✓