Colombia’s Petro repeats vote fraud claims days before handing over power

Outgoing person renews allegations that Colombia’s electoral authorities and planetary observers person rejected.

Colombia’s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has repeated allegations that June’s statesmanlike predetermination was rigged, rejecting the legitimacy of his right-wing successor, Abelardo de la Espriella.

Speaking earlier journalists successful Bogota connected Monday, the left-wing Petro claimed that programmers had altered thousands of tally sheets aft counts were transmitted to the nationalist predetermination agency.

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He alleged that the predetermination was “obscure” and had been manipulated by overseas powers, and that metadata associated with ballot tallies was not made disposable for review.

Colombia’s electoral authorities and planetary observers person rejected the fraud claims. Election officials declared successful precocious June that de la Espriella, a blimpish with a inheritance successful law, had defeated Petro’s state Ivan Cepeda by 250,000 votes.

De la Espriella is owed to beryllium sworn successful earlier Congress connected Friday. Some analysts accidental the allegations could weaken his lasting with immoderate voters and deepen Colombia’s governmental polarisation.

Petro, a erstwhile rebel combatant who successful 2022 became the country’s archetypal socialist president, is barred from a 2nd word by the Colombian constitution and has small quality to halt the modulation of powerfulness aft electoral judges certified the results.

“We are facing a profound organization problem,” Petro said. “And it’s the inauguration of an illegitimate president.”

Feud with Washington

Petro’s last months successful bureau were marked by repeated clashes with US President Donald Trump, whose medication has courted Latin America’s close and pressured its left-wing governments.

In October, Trump called Petro an “illegal cause leader” and announced an extremity to US payments to Colombia. Petro deed backmost by saying Trump was “rude and ignorant astir Colombia”.

In January, aft US forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro successful Caracas, Trump was asked whether helium would bid a subject operation against Colombia. The US president responded, “Sounds bully to me.”

Weeks later, US prosecutors began a probe into imaginable links betwixt Petro and cause traffickers successful the people of his 2022 statesmanlike campaign.

Petro said connected Monday that helium fears being “extracted” from Colombia erstwhile helium becomes an absorption leader. He has called for protests and for agrarian areas to signifier “liberation guards”.

“I’ve been told to behave well,” Petro said. “But arsenic a democrat, I cannot judge this electoral fraud.”

Andres Macias, a prof of governmental subject astatine Externado University, said the telephone could “justify the usage of weapons by civilians” successful areas already impacted by conflicts betwixt the military, cause traffickers and rebel groups.