Colombia picks hard-line, right-wing populist as next president

Colombia's presidential candidate for the Defensores de la Patria movement, Abelardo de la Espriella, speaks to supporters from behind bullet-proof glass following the preliminary results of the presidential runoff election at the Ventana al Mundo monument in Barranquilla, Colombia, on June 21, 2026. Photo by JUAN BARRETO /AFP via Getty Images

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BOGOTA – A populist outsider who promised hardline security measures, business-friendly policies and traditional Catholic family values — and won an endorsement from Donald Trump — is set to become Colombia’s next president.

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Abelardo de la Espriella won 49.66 per cent of votes in a run-off race on Sunday, according to the preliminary results. Self-dubbed “The Tiger,” de la Espriella built a base of die-hard fans across Colombia under the slogan “Stand Firm up for the Homeland,” with his supporters dubbed “Defenders of the Homeland.”

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“We have restored democracy, security, freedom, and order,” declared Diana Tellez, an Abelardo supporter, at a victory rally in Bogota.

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De la Espriella, a lawyer, narrowly beat leftist rival and continuity candidate Ivan Cepeda, who received 48.70 per cent of the so-called “pre-count.”

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While Cepeda has not conceded defeat, analysts say it is unlikely that the vote verification process will change the final result, noting that the outcome highlights both frustration with the incumbent President Gustavo Petro administration and a polarized electorate.

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Some 26 million went to the polls on Sunday, representing 63.60% of the country’s 41 million eligible voters.

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Analysts argue that many voted for de la Espriella to protest Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president and the founder of the political movement behind Cepeda.

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“Not all of those votes represent political capital for Abelardo de la Espriella in the sense of support for him; rather, many of them represent a protest vote against the Petro administration,” said Miguel Jaramillo Luján, a Colombian political strategist.

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Petro’s policies on healthcare and security were deeply unpopular.

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“A lot of Colombians have died due to a lack of medicine and a lack of medical care,” said Freddy Sarmiento, who described healthcare as his main reason for backing de la Espriella.

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Many others criticized Petro’s “Total Peace” policy, which aims to negotiate with illegal armed groups.

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De la Espriella, by contrast, promised an “iron fist” on organized crime in the mold of El Salvador’s wildly popular strongman Nayib Bukele. De la Espriella has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Bukele, and was invited to his inauguration in El Salvador in 2024. After his visit, de la Espriella described the Central American nation as “the best example in the world of what a country can achieve.”

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Many note similarities in the two hardliners’ personal style: impeccably tailored suits, slicked back hair, and their signature goatees.

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“The main change [under Abelardo] will likely be in the approach to security. We can expect a policy more focused on strengthening the state’s coercive capacity,” said Javier Florez, director of conflict and security at the Ideas for Peace foundation, an NGO.