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Colombia elected nationalist lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella arsenic its caller President connected Sunday (June 21, 2026), according to an archetypal vote count, marking a crisp governmental crook and bringing a hardline information docket and market-friendly policies to the fore.
Nicknamed “The Tiger” by his followers, Mr. De La Espriella portrayed himself arsenic an anti-establishment savior susceptible of reviving Colombia’s ailing system and restoring bid successful a state rattled by amerciable equipped groups and cause trafficking.
Mr. De La Espriella began gaining popularity aboriginal successful the twelvemonth with his tough-on-crime discourse. He pulled disconnected a triumph successful the archetypal circular successful precocious May with 43.7% of the ballot and past bushed leftist legislator Ivan Cepeda successful the runoff with 49.66% to Cepeda’s 48.7%, according to the nationalist registrar’s tally. De La Espriella, who blames outgoing President Gustavo for Colombia’s economical and information woes, won implicit a plurality ofvoters with pledges to trim the size of the authorities by 40%, broaden the taxation basal and extremity bid efforts with equipped groups successful favour of a hardened subject response.
He plans to restart lipid exploration and let fracking to astir treble accumulation to 1.3 cardinal barrels per day.
Mr. De La Espriella claims to person self-financed his run and says his “Defenders of the Homeland” question grew without enactment from extracurricular governmental parties oregon concern groups. Reuters could not independently verify this claim. Aside from being an attorney, De La Espriella has a sprawling concern empire that includes wine, rum, covering and real estate.
An investigative journalism outlet, La Silla Vacia, recovered that galore of his businesses person been dissolved, are successful indebtedness and mislaid wealth wide successful 2024, with his instrumentality steadfast being his astir profitable endeavor. De La Espriella’s run declined to reply La Silla Vacia’s questions astir the candidate’s businesses, the outlet said, but aboriginal questioned its backing successful a nationalist letter. La Silla Vacia rejected allegations of bias.
Luxury watches connected an robust fist
Mr. De La Espriella, 47, utilized a subject salute passim his run contempt ne'er having served successful the military.
Often seen wearing luxury watches, decorator sunglasses and with a well-groomed beard, Mr. De La Espriella has drawn comparisons to El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, who calls himself the “world’s coolest dictator.”
Bukele has implemented heavy-handed information policies and mega-prisons that pushed transgression rates successful El Salvador to among the lowest successful Central America and prompted calls for different countries to follow akin policies. He has detained much than 90,000 radical successful the process, drafting disapproval from quality rights groups.
De La Espriella denies helium is imitating Bukele but has projected 10 mega-prisons successful Colombia.
Mr. De La Espriella has besides faced disapproval for legally representing Alex Saab, who faces charges successful the U.S. of laundering wealth for ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He has besides represented radical linked to corruption scandals, fiscal embezzlement and right-wing paramilitaries and says his nonrecreational relationships arsenic an lawyer bash not impact immoderate complicity oregon crime.
Mr. De La Espriella, a joined begetter of four, grew up successful the Caribbean metropolis of Monteria and is simply a known vocalist of the region’s accepted vallenato people music. A national of the United States, Italy and Colombia, De La Espriella is acceptable to presume the presidency connected August 7.
