Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer who calls himself 'El Tigre' and admires Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele, won Colombia's presidential election on Sunday by a razor-thin margin of just 250,000 votes out of 41 million eligible voters. He defeated leftwing senator Iván Cepeda and will take office on 7 August, replacing Gustavo Petro, the country's first leftist president.
Threat to Democracy
De la Espriella, 47, has vowed to 'disembowel' the left, use lethal force against protesters, and kill criminals like 'rats and cockroaches'. Analysts and activists warn his election poses an unprecedented institutional threat. 'It frightens me,' said Catalina Ruiz-Navarro, co-founder of feminist magazine Volcánicas. 'Despite Colombia’s strong institutions, we’re facing an institutional threat unlike anything we’ve experienced before.'
Far-Right Wave
His victory is the latest far-right wave in Latin America, following Javier Milei in Argentina and Daniel Noboa in Ecuador. De la Espriella has borrowed from Bukele's gang crackdown, Milei's 'chainsaw' pledge to shrink the state by 40%, and Trump's endorsement. He has turned Colombia's national football shirt into a far-right symbol, inspired by Brazil's Bolsonaro family.
Background and Career
Born in Bogotá but raised in Córdoba, De la Espriella is the son of a former Liberal congressman. He built his legal career defending paramilitary leaders in the early 2000s and later represented a pastor accused of sexual abuse, a pyramid scheme head, and Alex Saab, alleged financial frontman for Venezuela's Maduro regime. He secured acquittal for the pastor by calling accusers 'social climbers', a remark that resurfaced during the campaign and sparked outrage.
Campaign and Promises
De la Espriella announced his candidacy in July last year after a senator was shot at a campaign event. He invested heavily in social media, gaining backing from influencers and footballers. His rallies featured drone shows, AI-generated videos, and a bulletproof vehicle nicknamed the 'tigermobile'. He sold campaign merchandise, including $640 tiger-head statues and $5,800 watches.
He promised to withdraw Colombia from the UN, extradite Petro to the US, build 10 mega-prisons, legalize civilian gun ownership, and capture or kill 10 major crime leaders in his first three months. He supports fossil fuels, fracking, and loosening environmental licensing. He has vowed to issue 90 executive decrees on day one, a style reminiscent of Ecuador's Noboa.
Rights Concerns
De la Espriella has filed over 100 lawsuits against journalists. He has been accused of homophobia and sexism, though his campaign stated no one would be persecuted. 'His rhetoric is misogynistic and full of hatred and exclusion, and it’s not that people voted for him despite that rhetoric. People voted for him because of it,' said Ana Bejarano Ricaurte, co-director of legal advocacy group El Veinte. 'That is a deeply alarming sign for the health of our nation.'
