Far Right Takes the Lead in Colombia Elections While the Left Buries it’s Head in the Sand

The far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella surprised everyone Sunday by obtaining the most votes in the first round of the Colombian presidential elections, which had a 57.88% turnout, and will compete in the second round on June 21 with the leftist Iván Cepeda, who questioned the results.  The turnout was the highest for a first round since the 1991 Constitution came into force in a traditionally abstentionist country where voting is not compulsory and attendance at the polls is usually slightly above 50%. 

The National Registry, which organized the elections, reported that, with 99.99% of the polling stations reporting, De la Espriella, of the far-right movement Defenders of the Homeland, received 10,361,413 votes (43.74%), which means an advantage of 673,168 ballots over Cepeda, who obtained 9,688,245 votes (40.9%).  This preliminary result was rejected by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has questioned the transparency of the electoral system for months and said today: “As president, I do not accept the results of the preliminary count,” adding that he will await the official count that must be carried out in the coming days.

“More than ten million Colombians trusted ‘El Tigre’ (The Tiger), they joined the pack. We’re going to the second round to defeat tyranny, absolutism. In 21 days we’re going to change the history of Colombia forever,” said De la Espriella, whom his followers identify with the feline, upon learning the results.  The Democratic Center candidate, Paloma Valencia, with 1.6 million votes, came in third place and is the big loser of these elections because her vote is much lower than the 12% that the latest polls gave her, and even lower than the 3.2 million votes she obtained on March 8 in the center and right party consultation in which she was chosen as a candidate.  In fourth place is Sergio Fajardo, from the centrist party Dignity & Commitment, with one million votes, representing 4.26%.  Another centrist candidate, former Bogota mayor Claudia López, came in fifth place with 225,517 votes (0.95%).

Doubts on the Left

In his speech after learning the results, Cepeda was less emphatic than Petro and raised doubts about the figures from the Registry.  “There is a discrepancy that we want to verify regarding the electoral census, and this is not just any discrepancy: we are talking about 885,000 people,” Cepeda said in Bogotá to his supporters, without giving details about the origin of that figure.  De la Espriella, who appeared before his followers on a boat on the Magdalena River in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla, responded: “Petro, Cepeda, you pair of criminals, don’t you dare, don’t even think about ignoring the popular will because here there is a people who will confront you and defeat you.”

Moves Ahead of the Second Round

Following Sunday’s votes, Senator Valencia pictured above did not hesitate and immediately announced that she would support De la Espriella in the second round. “Personally, as Paloma Valencia, the woman who wanted to be your president, I announce my support for Dr. Abelardo de la Espriella,” said Valencia, who said she will work to ensure that Colombia “does not fall into the hands of communism or the neo-communism that, in her opinion, Senator Cepeda and President Gustavo Petro represent.”  However, his vice-presidential running mate, Juan Daniel Oviedo, stated that the votes they expected to receive from a large part of the right wing “disappeared” because of De la Espriella’s campaign, which he considered “dirty, sexist, homophobic.” 

Oviedo, an economist who is openly gay, said that, unlike Valencia, he will announce his position regarding the second round on June 3 because it is “a serious decision.”  Candidate Fajardo, for his part, asserted that the million votes he obtained in the first round are “important” to define the contest between De la Espriella and Cepeda.  “This million votes is important to define the fate of our country. And our voice will be heard because the future of Colombia is in our hands, and we are going to make Colombia think about what we have done,” Fajardo said in Bogotá after learning the results of the day.

‘Don’t Even Think about Ignoring the Popular Will’: De la Espriella to Petro and the Left

Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella issued a warning this Sunday to Colombian President Gustavo Petro and the left, telling them to respect the election results and not try to “disregard the will” expressed at the polls, in which he received the most votes to advance to the second round.  With virtually all polling stations counted, De la Espriella, of the Defenders of the Homeland movement, obtained 10.3 million votes (43.74%), and in second place was the leftist Iván Cepeda, of the Historical Pact, with 9.6 million votes (40.90%).  “Petro, Cepeda, you pair of criminals, don’t you dare, don’t you even think about ignoring the popular will because here there is a people who will confront you and defeat you,”  De la Espriella said during a speech in Barranquilla after the preliminary results of the first round were released, which the president said he did not accept, while Cepeda questioned the figures obtained.

Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella below speaks at the end of election day Sunday in Barranquilla, Colombia.

The eccentric and millionaire candidate pictured above arrived at the Barranquilla boardwalk aboard a boat on the Magdalena River and spoke to his followers from a platform protected by bulletproof glass and decorated with yellow, blue and red lights, the colors of Colombia.  De la Espriella’s warning came after Petro asserted that he does not accept the preliminary results and will only recognize the official results issued by the electoral commissions led by judges of the Republic.  De la Espriella maintained that the election on June 21st will be a dispute, according to him, between those who defend democracy and those who represent the continuity of the current government.  “There is no longer room for difference,” said the far-right politician, who called for the opposition sectors to unite to defeat Cepeda in the second round.