Abelardo de la Espriella during the presidential elections in Barranquilla, Colombia, on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Cristian Acosta/Anadolu via Getty Images

Conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, a millionaire political neophyte, will be Colombia's next president after electoral authorities on Wednesday declared him the winner of Sunday's runoff election.

The businessman and lawyer, whose ventures include a clothing line, wine and rum brands, and a restaurant, earned President Trump's endorsement despite never having run for office. He defeated progressive lawmaker Iván Cepeda by 1 percentage point, or more than 251,000 votes.

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.

Studies have found that Petro's attempted peace negotiation policies have resulted in the expansion of power and membership of armed criminal groups. Cepeda has participated in and continued throughout the campaign to promote negotiations with guerrillas and cartels.

The issue has been particularly salient for low-income families living near fields of coca, the shrub used to make cocaine, as human rights organizations documented more than 50 massacres in Colombia just this year.

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. Authorities finished the recount before declaring de la Espriella's victory.

De la Espriella's victory adds Colombia to a growing list of countries that have turned to political outsiders in search of solutions to complex social, security and economic challenges.

Similar to Mr. Trump, de la Espriella was seen as a combative political outsider. He got into multiple clashes many considered disrespectful, especially with women journalists, during the campaign. He was also known for using pyrotechnics during his campaign events

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 during the campaign proposed building 10 maximum-security mega-prisons inspired by El Salvador's CECOT model. De la Espriella has envisioned prisoners being held "10 stories underground," surviving on "bread and water." He has also echoed Bukele's justification for limiting due process, claiming the left cares more about the rights of criminals than their victims. He has also promised to resume the halted aerial fumigation of coca fields with glyphosate and to take down small aircraft and sink boats carrying drugs.

Earlier Wednesday, Cepeda conceded Colombia's presidential election to de la Espriella and accepted a Senate seat reserved for the runner-up in the presidential election.

"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."

De la Espriella, 47, will begin a four-year term Aug. 7.

In a statement on Wednesday, his campaign said the president-elect's "purpose is to work for national unity, with the people and for the people." The campaign also stated his government will be committed to guaranteeing "the right to political opposition and peaceful protest, within the framework of the Constitution, the law and respect for democratic institutions."

A day earlier, de la Espriella announced he was 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.

Historically, Colombia has been the United States' top ally in counternarcotics and one of its most important trade partners in the Western Hemisphere. But U.S.-Colombia relations deteriorated sharply under Petro. In 2025, Mr. Trump formally determined that Colombia had "failed demonstrably" in its counternarcotics commitments and threatened military strikes on the country's land.

The State Department withdrew Petro's visa to the U.S. and the Treasury sanctioned him personally. Tensions between Mr. Trump and Petro cooled somewhat after the two met at the White House in February, during which Mr. Trump described his Colombian counterpart as "terrific."

Still, Mr. Trump gave de la Espriella his "Complete and Total Endorsement," and warned that "The results of this Election are very important to the future of Colombia and its relationship to the United States," leading Petro to accuse the president of interfering with his country's election.

Petro told CBS News earlier this month the disagreements between his government and the White House were "because we are progressives, because we are on the left, and because we disagree on issues like Gaza."

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.


Abelardo de la Espriella during an election night rally in Barranquilla, Colombia, on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Carlos Parra Rios / Bloomberg via Getty Images

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Posted by Temmy
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