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Donald Trump-backed candidate, Abelardo de la Espriella, who has never held public office, has narrowly won Colombia’s presidential runoff on Sunday, marking a sharp shift to the political right.
With more than 99 percent of polling centres reporting, De la Espriella secured 49.65 percent of the vote, beating left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, who polled 48.70 percent, according to official results.
The result gives the US-backed lawyer an unassailable lead in a tightly contested race separated by only a few hundred thousand votes after a tense and violent campaign period.
In Bogota, supporters of the president-elect celebrated the outcome, waving flags and blowing horns as results were announced.
The election campaign was marked by guerrilla bomb attacks, hundreds of threats against candidates, and the killing of a leading conservative presidential hopeful.
De la Espriella’s victory is expected to strengthen ties with the United States, which has provided Colombia with billions of dollars in military aid, and could test the country’s fragile peace process with armed groups.
He received what he called the “complete and total endorsement” of US President Donald Trump, a backing that boosted his campaign.
The 47-year-old, who refers to himself as “The Tiger,” has promised to end peace talks with dissident groups if elected and launch a 90-day US-backed airstrike campaign against them.
His win also reflects a wider right-wing political shift across Latin America in recent years.
