MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

De la Espriella gives a victory speech vowing unity as Cepeda awaits the final tally

”The electoral campaign is over, the divisions are over (...) and the supreme hour of service to the homeland begins,” De la Espriella said

Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella delivered a victory speech on Sunday in Barranquilla, in which he proclaimed himself the winner of Colombia's presidential runoff according to the preliminary count and called for national unity, while the official tally remained under way and his rival, left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, conditioned recognition of the result on the definitive count.

Before a crowd of supporters, De la Espriella centered his address on reconciliation. ”The electoral campaign is over, the divisions are over (...) and the supreme hour of service to the homeland begins,“ he said, assuring that there would be no ”victors or vanquished.“ The lawyer, who reaches the presidency without prior experience in public office, promised to ”defend the Constitution with extreme coherence“ and guaranteed respect for those who did not vote for him: ”There will be no retaliation, no persecution, because in a democracy there are no irreconcilable enemies.“

Security took a central place. Addressing those responsible for ”violence, terror, drug trafficking and corruption,“ De la Espriella warned that ”their time is up“ and that ”the authority of the Republic will once again make itself felt across the territory.“ He held that ”true peace is born of justice“ and promised the armed forces and the police the backing of a president who, he said, would respect them from August 7, when the transfer of power is scheduled.

The event, however, was held before the result was official. According to the Registraduría's preliminary count, De la Espriella took 49.66% of the vote against Cepeda's 48.70%, a difference of some 250,000 ballots. The proclamation, however, falls to the National Electoral Council, which can only formalize it once the tally concludes and the 33,000 tables challenged by Cepeda's campaign are resolved. The left-wing senator called the preliminary count ”not official or binding,“ said he would recognize the result of the final tally and offered his opponent a national dialogue. Outgoing President Gustavo Petro insisted that ”no one can be proclaimed president” until the count is finished.

The end of the day was marked by some unrest. In Bogotá there were brief incidents that later dissipated, while in eastern Cali there were more serious clashes, with local reports —still officially unconfirmed— of one death. Internationally, De la Espriella received a congratulatory phone call from US President Donald Trump, as well as from the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei, and Ecuador, Daniel Noboa. If his victory is confirmed, the lawyer will have to govern with a narrow margin: his party holds just four senators in a 103-seat chamber, so he will depend on agreements with the traditional forces that backed him in the runoff.