BOGOTÁ, Colombia, June 25 (World Daily Times) — Iván Cepeda conceded Colombia’s presidential runoff after preliminary results from the National Civil Registry showed conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, known as “El Tigre,” ahead, clearing the path for the lawyer to take office on Aug. 7.
Cepeda said he accepted the result emerging from the count “as an act of democratic responsibility,” but he also repeated allegations of foreign interference, vote-buying and artificial intelligence used to influence voters. He said he would recognize the official outcome once the final tally and required verifications were complete.
The preliminary count reported de la Espriella with about 49.7% of the vote to Cepeda’s 48.7%. President Gustavo Petro questioned the pre-count on X and called for an audit of the voting software, though the posts described in the coverage did not present evidence.
De la Espriella, a lawyer with no prior elected office who had public backing from Donald Trump, campaigned on a hard-line security message. He promised a military offensive against illegal armed groups and drug trafficking, and said his government would build 10 maximum-security mega-prisons.
