According to the BBC, the official but not legally binding preliminary vote count showed de la Espriella defeating his left-wing rival, Iván Cepeda, by a razor-thin margin of less than one percentage point.

Preliminary Results and Cepeda’s Stance

Cepeda has not yet conceded, stating he will wait for the results to be cross-checked, a process that usually takes several days. Trump had endorsed de la Espriella ahead of the run-off vote and criticized Cepeda as a ‘radical Left Marxist.’

Trump’s Reaction and Predictions

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump claimed de la Espriella had ‘won easily,’ despite the candidate’s lead of 0.96 percentage points in the preliminary count being the narrowest in recent Colombian history. Writing on Truth Social, Trump expressed anticipation for building a ‘powerful relationship’ with the new president.

The relationship between the two historic allies had deteriorated in recent years as Trump exchanged insults with Colombia’s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro. Trump had referred to Petro as a ‘sick man’ and a ‘drug-trafficking leader’ without providing any evidence, while Petro criticized the US president for basing his immigration policy on that of the Nazis.

Following the US military operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January, Trump remarked that a military operation targeting neighboring Colombia sounded ‘good.’ When asked by a Colombian journalist about the future of the US-Colombia relationship following Sunday’s election, Trump said, ‘it’ll be better, he [de la Espriella] is going to be a great president.’

De la Espriella’s Campaign and Policies

De la Espriella campaigned on a promise to crack down on drug-trafficking gangs and criminal organizations, which have long plagued the country. Colombia is the world’s largest producer of coca, the raw material used to make cocaine. He has pledged to join the ‘Shield of the Americas,’ an alliance of Latin American countries and the US aimed at combating cartels.

President Petro had criticized the alliance’s inaugural summit held in Miami in March, stating that ‘the 17 countries gathered are the least experienced in the fight against drugs in the Americas.’ De la Espriella has also promised closer cooperation with the US in the fight against drug trafficking, including plans to bomb drug-trafficking gangs and allow the US to have military bases inside Colombia.

Some voters who supported Cepeda expressed concerns that under de la Espriella, Colombia could see a resurgence of human rights abuses, such as the ‘false positives’ controversy, when more than 6,400 civilians were killed and falsely passed off as left-wing guerrillas to boost the army’s kill rate during Colombia’s armed conflict.

However, in his victory speech, de la Espriella insisted that while he would come down hard on drug traffickers and ‘bandits,’ he would do so within the confines of the law and the constitution. The new president will be sworn into office on 7 August.