BOGOTA – Progressive candidate Iván Cepeda on Wednesday conceded Colombia’s presidential election to Abelardo de la Espriella, a conservative outsider who was endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Election results showed de la Espriella, a businessman and lawyer who had never run for office, defeated Cepeda, a lawmaker, by 1 percentage point, or nearly 251,000 votes.
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“We assume with serenity, responsibility, and absolute resolve — and let there be no doubt about it — the role that circumstances demand of us,” Cepeda said in an address to the nation. “We will exercise a democratic, vigilant and constructive opposition.”
The result effectively was an indictment of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s government, whose policies Cepeda had promised to continue, including a largely failed effort to establish dialogue with multiple armed groups under a plan known as “total peace.”
Electoral authorities published all but a fraction of the vote count hours after polls closed Sunday. Petro and Cepeda did not accept those results, with the latter saying he would wait for a recount to do so.
De la Espriella, 47, will begin a 4-year term Aug. 7. His campaign did not immediately comment on Cepeda's concession. He proclaimed himself the winner Sunday and asked Cepeda and Petro to accept the results.
His victory adds Colombia to a growing list of countries that have turned to political outsiders in search for solutions to complex social, security and economic challenges.
The self-proclaimed representative of “the never-before-seen” promised voters fearful of renewed internal conflict to take a heavy-handed approach to combating violent crime with strategies borrowed from Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s playbook, including building mega-prisons. Those tactics have lowered homicide rates in the Central American country but have fueled accusations of human rights abuses.
De la Espriella, nicknamed “The Tiger,” holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship, is a Trump supporter and a member of the Republican Party.
On Tuesday, he announced he is putting together his Cabinet. He also said he plans to add Colombia to the Trump-dubbed “Shield of the Americas,” a coalition of countries purportedly aimed at cracking down on criminal groups in Latin America.
More than 26 million people voted in the polarizing runoff, setting a historic record. Of those, over 426,000 people chose a third, no-name option on the ballot that allows voters to express dislike of both candidates. About 29,000 people cast blank ballots.
Cepeda, during his address to the nation, repeatedly expressed his intention to play an active role in the opposition once de la Espriella is sworn in, but he did not say whether he would accept a Senate seat reserved for the runner-up in the presidential election.
Cepeda, 63, is a philosopher and the son of a senator who was assassinated by military officers in 1994 during a stark moment of political violence in Colombia. The assassination led Cepeda to become a lifelong advocate for peace negotiations in the South American country, where an internal conflict has lasted decades.
“Today, we represent half of Colombia at the polls,” he said. “We are a fundamental part of the nation. We are a political, social, and cultural force present in every corner of the country.”
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