Published on 6/22/2026
Prominent right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Spiria – backed by US President Donald Trump – narrowly won the run-off in Colombia’s presidential elections on Sunday, in a sharp shift towards the far right, after he pledged to launch a tough campaign against drug traffickers and armed groups.
After counting more than 99% of the ballots, Lasperia obtained 49.65% of the votes, ahead of his rival, leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, who received 48.70%, according to official results.
The victory of Lasperia (47 years old) represents an effective rejection of the policies of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, whose ally, Cepeda, pledged to continue his agenda in the event of victory.
His election is also expected to contribute to improving tense relations between Bogotá and Washington, which has provided Colombia with billions of dollars in military aid, but at the same time it may test the fragile peace path in the country.
Full and comprehensive endorsement
During the election campaign, US President Trump announced “full and comprehensive support” for Asperia, even though the latter had never held political office. Lasperia said – in a post on social media – that Trump congratulated him on the victory, adding, “I spoke a few minutes ago with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and he expressed his support and recognition of our victory.”
Before the final results were announced, Petro pledged to challenge the election results. After the results were released, Ivan Cepeda said that his team would challenge the results of more than 30,000 polling stations.
In the first round, Cepeda received 41% of the votes, compared to 44% for Esperia, according to the official results.
During the election campaign, Lasperia – who also holds American citizenship and calls himself “The Tiger” – pledged to take a tough approach to combating crime and drug trafficking.
He told Agence France-Presse that, upon his election, he would end peace talks with the rebel groups and launch a campaign of air strikes against them for 90 days with the support of the United States.
He also announced that he intends to end Petro’s attempts to conduct parallel peace negotiations with multiple armed groups, efforts that have largely faltered, along with the construction of massive prisons modeled on the policies of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukela.
