Abelardo De La Espriella Leads 11-Candidate Colombia Vote
Colombians voted on Sunday in Bogotá in the first round of the presidential election, with abelardo de la espriella among 11 candidates seeking the country’s top office. The vote is being read as a referendum on outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s policies and as a test of whether Colombia’s politics will move rightward or stay aligned with the ruling Historic Pact coalition.
Juan Acevedo, a 62-year-old sociologist, said as he walked out of a voting station in Colombia’s capital on Sunday morning: “Today’s election isn’t just important for us, it’s important for all of Latin America” and “Whoever wins here will suggest to the region if progressive policies will continue or if things are going to return to the right.”
Bogotá Vote and Latin America
The election comes 10 years after Colombia signed an historic peace pact with the FARC, but the campaign has unfolded under renewed violence. Criminal groups have increasingly launched drone strikes, armed attacks have plagued the race, and Miguel Uribe Turbay, a 39-year-old presidential hopeful, was fatally shot at a political rally last June.
That violence has turned the campaign trail into a security operation as much as a political contest. Abelardo de la Espriella and his running mate, Jose Manuel Restrepo, raised their fit from behind a bullet proof booth during a campaign rally in Barranquilla on Saturday, May 23, 2026, a scene that matched the more guarded tone of recent rallies in the run-up to Sunday’s vote.
De La Espriella and Cepeda
Abelardo de la Espriella is the presidential candidate of the Defenders of the Motherland movement. Ivan Cepeda is the presidential candidate of the ruling Historic Pact coalition, and the campaign has been framed around the direction Gustavo Petro’s presidency leaves behind.
Supporters saw that choice plainly in the final days before voting. Sen. Cepeda spoke to supporters during a campaign rally in Bogotá on Friday, May 22, 2026, while Sen. Paloma Valencia waved supporters during a campaign rally in Bogotá on Sunday, May 24, 2026.
What Sunday Sets Up
The first round puts the result on a path to a runoff, with the 11-candidate field narrowing the race around the most visible contenders. For voters like Acevedo, the immediate stakes stretch beyond Colombia: the outcome is being watched as a signal to Latin America and comes as the Trump administration places renewed pressure on the region.
That broader political reading is now attached to the next phase of the contest. The first-round result will determine which candidates stay in the race and which campaign messages carry into the runoff fight.
