Colombia faces defining election amid sharp divisions
Colombians will head to the polls on Sunday in a pivotal presidential runoff election that will determine the country's future direction, with voters choosing between two sharply contrasting political visions amid an atmosphere of intense polarization, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu.
The nation remains deeply divided following a turbulent campaign marked by economic uncertainty, concerns over public security and growing political disillusionment.
The runoff pits Abelardo de la Espriella, a prominent conservative lawyer, businessman and populist representing the Defensores de la Patria party, against Ivan Cepeda, the candidate of the ruling Pacto Historico coalition. Cepeda has campaigned on a platform of broad social reforms and maintaining negotiated peace agreements with illegal armed groups.
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De la Espriella enters the decisive vote with significant momentum following a strong showing in the first round on May 31. Although most pre-election surveys had projected Cepeda as the frontrunner, the conservative candidate exceeded expectations by securing 43.7% of the vote, equivalent to more than 10.1 million ballots. Cepeda finished close behind with 40.9%, or 9.4 million votes, leaving a narrow margin of approximately 740,000 votes between the two contenders.
The first-round outcome effectively eliminated centrist alternatives and concentrated 84.6% of the electorate behind the two opposing political camps. According to Diego Baquero, a political analyst and partner at consulting firm CAUCE, the result reflects a major transformation in Colombian voting patterns.
“The country is completely divided,” Baquero said. “Nearly 85% of the electorate sided with one of the two extremes. The tradition of casting a first-round ballot for a third option based on genuine personal preference has disappeared, and fear has become the dominant emotion shaping this election. The May 31 results showed that only 15% of voters were willing to support a candidate outside the two main political blocs.”
The polarized political climate has created an environment in which many voters are not necessarily supporting the candidate they prefer most, but rather the one they view as the lesser risk.
“On one side, there is concern that a Cepeda presidency would represent a continuation of the current government's policies,” Baquero said. “On the other, there is significant unease about the more authoritarian image associated with Abelardo de la Espriella.”
De la Espriella, who campaigns on a hardline, Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele-style law-and-order platform, has been compared to US President Donald Trump, who has explicitly endorsed him on social media. Critics heavily scrutinize De la Espriella for his past legal representation of figures linked to high-level corruption scandals, such as Colombian-born Venezuelan businessman Alex Saab, and warn that his unyielding domestic approach could threaten civil liberties and dismantle existing peace frameworks.
A marked increase in urban crime and the resurgence of armed rebel groups in rural regions, however, have generated widespread voter demand for an iron fist (mano dura). De la Espriella has capitalized on the sentiment, promising aggressive state action to crush guerrilla and criminal networks.
Cepeda, a veteran congressman and former human rights attorney, has positioned himself as the standard-bearer of President Gustavo Petro’s progressive agenda. He rejects total militarization, favors environmental protections over resource extractivism and selected a prominent indigenous leader as his vice
By Nijat Babayev
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