The rightward shift in South America continues: In Colombia, right-wing politician Abelardo de la Espriella wins the presidential election, with the leftist candidate Cepeda conceding defeat.
Three days after the presidential runoff in Colombia, leftist candidate Iván Cepeda has acknowledged his defeat. “I have decided to accept the results,” Cepeda stated at a press conference. “I do this as an act of democratic responsibility to foster understanding and peaceful coexistence among Colombians.”
Cepeda and his supporters aim to form a vigilant and constructive opposition against the right-wing victor Abelardo de la Espriella. The initial quick count on Sunday showed de la Espriella ahead by approximately 250,000 votes or 0.94 percentage points over Senator Cepeda, a human rights advocate.
Initially, outgoing leftist President Gustavo Petro and Cepeda did not accept the election results. Cepeda’s campaign team planned to challenge the results from over 30,000 voting stations, refusing to recognize the outcome until a recount was completed. Petro had already flagged concerns over electoral fraud after the first round of voting.
Election Monitors Report No Irregularities
A European Union observer group described the counting process as transparent and efficient. On Tuesday, the EU election observation mission stated that there had been no complaints. Esteban González, its leader, mentioned the counting of votes was “virtually completed” without any irregularities noted.
With de la Espriella’s electoral victory, a rightward shift in South America appears to be solidifying. Recently, right-leaning to far-right presidents have assumed power in countries such as Ecuador, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Chile, often supported by the US government. Furthermore, in Peru, where a runoff election took place on June 7, right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori currently leads by an insurmountable margin according to the latest figures from the electoral authority.
