(AFP) – Colombian leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda on Wednesday conceded defeat in the tightly fought presidential election won by hard-right rival Abelardo de la Espriella. Cepeda lost Sunday’s runoff by less than one percentage point and has distanced himself from violence that has emerged in post-election protests. After earlier saying he would wait for the vote count to finish, he told reporters that he had “decided to accept the result emerging from that process.”
“I do it to contribute to coexistence, peace and dialogue among Colombians,” he added. The leftist senator is an ally of President Gustavo Petro, who has alleged electoral fraud and raised the possibility of annulling the vote due to the “direct intervention” of the United States. De la Espriella received enthusiastic backing from US President Donald Trump before and after Sunday’s runoff vote. The European Union’s Election Observation Mission to Colombia (MOE) on Tuesday gave the election a clean bill of health.
Accepting the result “does not mean renouncing the truth or remaining silent in the face of events we consider serious,” Cepeda said, referring to what he called “open and improper foreign interference” in the elections.
– ‘Authoritarian subjugation’ –
The president-elect will enter public office for the first time in August, marking the end of Colombia’s first-ever leftist government. A millionaire lawyer who made a fortune defending drug traffickers and fraudsters, he has pledged to use a heavy hand on crime. The left-wing bloc is the largest in Congress, although De la Espriella could secure a majority if he forges closer alliances with the traditional parties. He is taking the helm of a deeply divided country that is enduring the highest levels of violence in a decade.
De la Espriella once called for the Colombian political left to be “gutted” but later toned down his words. Cepeda warned that he would reject “any attempt at authoritarian subjugation” under the incoming administration. “We will resort, if necessary, to resistance and peaceful civil disobedience,” he said.
Post-election unrest mainly occurred in the cities of Bogota and Cali on Sunday night, where protesters started fires and lobbed objects at riot police, who used tear gas on the crowd. Cepeda urged “composure and calm” following these incidents, during which demonstrators burned US flags in reference to De la Espriella’s rapport with the Trump administration. Trump offered his hearty congratulations to De la Espriella on Monday.
“I look forward to working together to build a powerful relationship between Colombia and the United States of America, which will bring new levels of Greatness for both of our Countries!” he wrote on Truth Social.
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