In brief
Preliminary results gave him 12,959,542 votes (49.66%) against 12,708,712 (48.70%) for Iván Cepeda — the tightest runoff in Colombian history.
The leftist candidate acknowledged the preliminary figures but announced his campaign would challenge 33,000 polling stations, delaying a formal concession.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent celebrated the result, and President Trump posted “He won, BIG!” The US pledged collaboration on migration and security.
In Bogotá and Cali, demonstrators set up barricades and burned US flags. A young protester said he expected many more demonstrations.
De la Espriella vowed to end violence with a crackdown on armed groups, including US‑backed operations, mega‑prisons, and forced coca eradication.
- 21 JunPolls close; turnout reaches a record 63.59%.
- 21 JunWith 99.58% of ballots counted, the result is considered irreversible in favour of De la Espriella.
The razor-thin outcome
With 99.99 percent of polling stations counted, the preliminary count gave De la Espriella, of the Defensores de la Patria movement, 12,959,542 votes (49.66 percent) against 12,708,712 (48.70 percent) for Cepeda. The margin of victory was only 250,830 votes, far less than the over 600,000‑vote gap from the first round. A record 63.59 percent of eligible voters participated, and 377,076 blank ballots proved decisive, surpassing the final difference between the candidates.
De la Espriella claims a “new era”
Celebrating in his coastal stronghold of Barranquilla, the president‑elect promised to govern for all Colombians.
“A new era begins, a change of order, the homeland miracle.”
“To those who have sown violence, terror, drug trafficking and corruption all these years: your time is over.”
- Abelardo de la Espriella
- 12959542 votes
- Iván Cepeda
- 12708712 votes
- Blank votes
- 377076 votes
Data from the article text
Cepeda refusal and street anger
Cepeda, a senator from the Pacto Histórico, said he would not accept defeat until the official scrutiny is complete and will challenge 33,000 polling stations.
“We recognize the preliminary count as official data, but our teams of tens of thousands of lawyers are contesting 33,000 polling stations nationwide.”
“We are not going to support this government. It does not represent me as a young person. We are going to see many more protests.”
Washington celebrates, pledges cooperation
US officials immediately embraced the result. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had spoken with De la Espriella to congratulate him, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Colombia “the latest example of how voters across Latin America are rejecting failed leftist policies.” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social:
“He won, BIG!”
A fragmented Congress and a violent country
De la Espriella will govern with just four senators from his own movement in a 103‑seat legislature, forcing him to rely on traditional parties that backed him in the runoff (Centro Democrático, Cambio Radical, and the Liberal and Conservative parties). He inherits a country wracked by the worst violence in a decade, with active conflicts involving the ELN guerrilla, the Clan del Golfo paramilitaries, and FARC dissidents. The president‑elect has vowed a hardline security policy, including US‑backed airstrikes and crop fumigations to fight drug trafficking.