Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, for the Defensores de la Patria movement, speaks to supporters accompanied by his family from behind bullet-proof glass following the preliminary results of the presidential runoff election at the Ventana al Mundo monument in Barranquilla, Colombia, on June 21, 2026. Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images
Colombian lawyer and political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella has clinched the presidential runoff by 250,830 votes, according to preliminary results showing the support of 49.66 percent of Colombians.
The conservative de la Espriella, 47, won 12,959,542 votes, securing victory against progressive Sen. Iván Cepeda Castro, a protégé of outgoing leftist President Gustavo Petro.
