Why is Israel being accused of meddling in Colombia presidential election?

Colombia’s outgoing leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has alleged electoral fraud aft preliminary results from a statesmanlike run-off saw his handpicked campaigner suffer by a tiny margin.

In a barrage of posts connected the societal media tract X connected Monday, Petro alleged that the absorption bought votes and Israel and the United States interfered to assistance absorption far-right campaigner Abelardo de la Espriella win.

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Petro has refused to recognise the results and has called for an probe by the judiciary.

The president, who was barred by the constitution from moving for a 2nd term, was Colombia’s archetypal leftist president, putting him astatine likelihood with the US.

His medication is praised for reforms that boosted societal spending, raised the minimum wage and redistributed onshore to poorer families. Petro besides chopped ties with Israel implicit Israel’s genocidal warfare connected Gaza and distanced himself from US President Donald Trump’s administration.

However, critics said his refusal to judge the predetermination results risks inflaming governmental tensions – and violence. Here’s what we know:

Presidential campaigner Abelardo de la Espriella of the absorption Defenders of the Motherland question and his vice statesmanlike moving mate, Jose Manuel Restrepo, thrust wrong a bulletproof enclosure towards a triumph rally successful Barranquilla connected June 21, 2026 [Rodrigo Abd/AP]

What are the predetermination results?

The archetypal circular of the statesmanlike predetermination was held connected May 31. Neither of the 2 starring candidates – Abelardo de la Espriella of the right-wing Defenders of the Homeland question and Senator Ivan Cepeda of the ruling Historic Pact – secured astatine slightest 50 percent of the vote, starring to a run-off connected Sunday.

De la Espriella narrowly won with 49.66 percent implicit Cepeda’s 48.7 percent, according to preliminary results released connected Monday by the National Registry, which manages ballot numbers.

The razor-thin quality amounts to little than 1 percent of the ballot and represents 1 of Colombia’s closest elections.

Trump-backed de la Espriella, 47, is to instrumentality bureau connected August 7. The transgression lawyer is simply a multimillionaire who campaigned connected tougher information and anti-leftist policies. He besides has US citizenship.

De la Espriella’s triumph is portion of a caller inclination of Latin American countries electing far-right, populist leaders who are pro-Trump. Argentina’s Javier Milei, Honduras’s Nasry “Tito” Asfura, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Costa Rica’s Laura Fernandez Delgado each person adjacent ties to the Trump administration.

Why is Petro alleging fraud?

Petro took to X to denounce successful a bid of posts what helium said was elector fraud committed with the assistance of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Petro said determination was grounds of manipulation of Form E-14, the official, handwritten tally of sheets filled retired by canvass workers astatine each voting station.

The signifier is simply a carnal grounds of the ballot number and is meant to forestall electoral fraud. It is filled retired by hand, and integer scans are besides uploaded to the National Registry’s portal for nationalist auditing. If recovered to person errors, parties whitethorn petition a recount.

Petro alleged that overseas actors accessed the National Registry’s website and rewrote voting information connected immoderate E-14 forms.

“Today we person grounds of a alteration successful IP addresses of respective servers of the nationalist registry,” helium posted.

“This means that the bundle was compromised and others wrote information for polling stations and voting posts. The lone entity successful the satellite susceptible of doing that is the authorities of Israel,” Petro added without providing grounds of Israel’s alleged involvement.

Petro said his enactment had requested a “technical audit” of the voting bundle earlier the elections and asked authorities to retrieve the integer footprints of each digitally transmitted documents to debar modification. He claimed those requests were ignored.

The outgoing president shared videos of what helium alleged captured the “premeditated” modification of E-14 forms. He besides claimed the manipulation was done “from the offices of the Bautista brothers”.

Electoral workers, observers and enactment delegates be the authoritative ballot number the time aft the statesmanlike run-off successful Bogota connected June 22, 2026 [Fernando Vergara/AP]

Who are the Bautista brothers?

Petro was referring to Thomas Greg & Sons, an influential backstage logistics and information printing steadfast that runs Colombia’s electoral infrastructure. Until recently, it besides printed Colombian passports.

It is tally by brothers Fernando and Camilo Bautista Palacio. The duo was convicted of slope fraud successful the US successful the 1980s.

Thomas Greg & Sons, which was founded by their father, Gregorio, has been contracted by the National Registry for much than a decennary to negociate predetermination logistics, preliminary ballot counting and vote-tallying software.

Petro successful April accused the Bautista brothers of negotiating a woody with de la Espriella that would spot them unafraid the presidency for the far-right campaigner successful instrumentality for clinching passport printing contracts erstwhile more.

At the time, de la Espriella refuted the claims, and his lawyers threatened Petro with a lawsuit.

What are authorities saying?

Attorney General Gregorio Eljach has dismissed the allegations and told reporters determination is “no grounds of fraud” with much than 99 percent of the votes counted.

De la Espriella, meanwhile, has truthful acold not responded straight to Petro.

Is de la Espriella linked with Israel?

Yes, de la Espriella has consistently voiced enactment for Israel and campaigned successful Colombia’s Jewish community, making pro-Israel promises and saying his authorities would “defend Judeo-Christian principles”.

He pledged to reverse Petro’s 2024 determination to chopped ties with Israel and has promised to relocate the Colombian embassy to Jerusalem.

Netanyahu congratulated de la Espriella connected Monday, saying: “I look guardant to moving with you to fortify the enslaved betwixt Israel and Colombia.”

How has the US reacted?

In his posts, Petro besides blamed Trump for interfering successful the elections by publically endorsing a campaigner and frankincense swaying voters.

Trump endorsed de la Espriella connected his Truth Social level weeks earlier the run-off.

Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio besides congratulated de la Espriella connected his preliminary win, and Trump took recognition for the far-right candidate’s victory.

“He was successful 10th place. I endorsed him, and helium won the election. He called maine past nighttime and thanked maine for the endorsement,” Trump told reporters astatine the White House connected Monday.

Rubio wrote connected X: “The Trump medication looks guardant to moving intimately with your incoming medication to beforehand determination information cooperation, extremity amerciable migration to the United States, and fortify our economical ties.”

Petro has invited Trump to marque a connection connected the electoral fraud allegations.

“I formally invitation President Donald Trump to speak,” Petro wrote, adding that the US president bears work for “having supported a campaigner and not the state of the Colombian people”.

What is the US-Colombian narration like?

Although some countries person adjacent commercialized ties, diplomatic relations person often been strained implicit cause trafficking policies and relations with Israel, among different issues.

But relations fundamentally collapsed nether the Trump and Petro administrations.

Petro successful January past twelvemonth refused to let US migrant deportation planes to onshore successful his state and said connected X that the US “cannot dainty Colombian migrants similar criminals”.

In October, the US sanctioned Petro, his household and cardinal officials successful his authorities based connected unproven allegations of engagement successful the cause trade.

In January this year, the US subject abducted leftist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from his Caracas location aft the Trump medication accused him of “narcoterrorism”.