The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Colombia declared Abelardo De La Espriella as the elected president of the country for the 2026-2030 term on Wednesday, following the completion of the official counting of the presidential runoff held on June 21.
According to the official tally from the CNE reported by BluRadio, the final difference between De La Espriella and his rival, Iván Cepeda, the candidate from the Historical Pact and political protégé of outgoing president Gustavo Petro, was established at 251,854 votes.
The National Scrutiny Commission proclaimed the result with these words: "Doctor Abelardo de la Espriella is declared elected as President of the Republic of Colombia for the term 2026-2030 by the Defenders of the Homeland Movement Party. And as Vice President of the Republic of Colombia for the term 2026-2030 by the Defenders of the Homeland Movement or Group, Dr. José Manuel Restrepo Abondano."
The counting revealed final figures that were minimally different from the initial tally: De La Espriella gained an additional 624 votes, finishing with 12,960,166 votes (49.66%), while Cepeda lost 400 votes, ending up with 12,708,312 (48.70%).
The total number of counted votes reached 26,344,960, with a 99.9% agreement between the preliminary count and the official tally, ruling out any significant alteration of the results.
Cepeda had acknowledged his defeat on the same day of the election. "I have decided to accept the result and that De La Espriella is the new president," he declared, calling it an act of democratic responsibility. The Pacto Histórico, through its representative Martha Bolívar, formally withdrew all claims during the counting process.
In contrast, Petro refused to acknowledge the results and lashed out on social media against the elected president. "The U.S. citizenship status of President Abelardo takes us back two and a half centuries: to the viceroyalty," he wrote on his X account.
He also stated: "We have never had an electoral system as vulnerable as the one we have today. A system serving one of the candidates."
The European Observation Mission, led by Esteban González Pons, dismissed any manipulation of electoral data, refuting the accusations made by the outgoing president.
De La Espriella is a criminal lawyer, entrepreneur, and permanent resident of the United States, with no prior experience in public office.
He leads the far-right movement "Defensores de la Patria," founded in 2025, and is a declared admirer of Donald Trump, who supported his candidacy and congratulated him after the victory, promising a second Plan Colombia with U.S. military support. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also congratulated him on his election.
Among the most significant proposals of the elected president for the region is the severing of diplomatic relations with Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, as well as the suggestion that Cuba become a Free Associated State of the United States, similar to Puerto Rico.
Iván Cepeda, as the defeated candidate with more than 25% of valid votes, will have the right to occupy a seat in the Senate of the Republic, according to Article 112 of the Colombian Constitution, and his vice-presidential formula will have one in the Chamber.
De La Espriella will assume the presidency on August 7, 2026, bringing an end to four years of governance by Gustavo Petro, the first leftist president in the history of Colombia.
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