Tough-on-crime outsider Aberaldo de la Espriella took the lead in Colombia’s presidential race in the first round of voting on Sunday (May 31, 2026) night, setting up a runoff with Iván Cepeda, an ally of Colombia’s outgoing President Gustavo Petro who questioned the results of the election.

With no candidate taking an outright majority of the vote, the election will head to a second round in June.

But Mr. Cepeda and Mr. Petro sowed doubt in the results of the first round, claiming without evidence that hundreds of thousands of votes were manipulated and that foreign actors manipulated the results of the election.

Mr. Cepeda said he was waiting for electoral authorities to scrutinize the results before accepting the election. “Only when the vote-counting commissions have fully clarified what happened will we comment on tonight’s results,” Mr. Cepeda said, though he acknowledged the vote was likely going to a second round.

Mr. Cepeda won 41% of the vote, while de la Espriella won 44% of the votes, with 99.98% of the results counted by electoral authorities.

Mr. Cepeda is a progressive senator who has promised to carry on a fraught plan to achieve “total peace” by negotiating peace pacts with guerrillas and criminal gangs. He was consistently leading polls in the run up to the Sunday (May 31, 2026) vote, but in the weeks leading up to the election Mr. Espriella rapidly gained support with a promise that he would crack down on armed groups.

The neck-and-neck results likely spell trouble for Mr. Cepeda in the run-off election, as Mr. Espriella is expected to scoop up support from voters who threw their support behind another conservative candidate in the first round.

Mr. Espriella — a newcomer known as El Tigre, or “The Tiger” — has sought to portray himself as a supporter of United States President Donald Trump.

“Let the United States of America and democratic parties monitor this runoff election. I will lead this battle; I will be Colombia’s best warrior,” Mr. Espriella said in an impassioned speech on Sunday (May 31, 2026) night, pounding his chest behind bullet-proof glass in front of supporters.

Colombian voters are weighing peace deals or a crackdown

Voters across Latin America are increasingly ditching leaders that pitched progressive policies aimed at addressing the root issues of conflict, such as lack of opportunities for young people and corruption. Instead, voters have increasingly turned to candidates promising heavy-handed security crackdowns.

The polarised vote comes as the Trump administration is playing a more aggressive role in Latin America than any U.S. government in decades, placing mounting pressure on countries like Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador to crack down on crime.

The election has also underscored two sharply diverging visions for the future of peace in a country marked by years of conflict.

On one side, Mr. Cepeda has promised to continue Mr. Petro’s progressive agenda and a largely failed effort to negotiate peace pacts with armed groups, following a plan that’s likely to sharply contrast with Mr. Trump’s vision for Latin America.

On the other side, Mr. Espriella has promised to fiercely crack down on criminal groups and build 10 mega-prisons, echoing the war on gangs policy of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, which has driven down homicide rates but fuelled accusations of human rights abuses.

“Today’s election isn’t just important for us, it’s important for all of Latin America,” said Juan Acevedo, a 62-year-old sociologist walking out of a voting station in Colombia’s capital on Sunday (May 31, 2026) morning. “Whoever wins here will suggest to the region if progressive policies will continue or if things are going to return to the right.”

Vote is seen as a referendum on Petro

The election — 10 years after Colombia signed an historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) — as seen as a referendum on Mr. Petro’s policies.

The deal a decade ago had offered hope to break the nation’s vicious cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government. But violence has since roared back, in part because armed groups have taken advantage of peace negotiations with Mr. Petro’s government to make territorial gains.

That came to a head in the lead-up to the election. Criminal groups have increasingly launched drone strikes, armed attacks have plagued the race and last June, 39-year-old politician and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was fatally shot at a political rally. Still, Mr. Cepeda and Mr. Petro have maintained strong support among many because of progressive policies pushed forward under Mr. Petro, such as boosting the minimum wage.

Both Mr. Espriella and Paloma Valencia have touted their affinity for Mr. Trump, though Ms. Valencia’s electoral loss dealt another blow to a once powerful political current known as Uribismo.

Published – June 01, 2026 12:32 pm IST