MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petro rejects Colombia election result, backs legal bid to annul De la Espriella win

Petro claimed that algorithms were run from a server with an IP address in Los Angeles to alter the count in De la Espriella's favor

Colombia's outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, reiterated on Sunday that he does not recognize the legitimacy of the incoming government of Abelardo de la Espriella, insisting that the June 21 presidential runoff was marked by fraud — an accusation he has not backed with public evidence and which is contradicted by international observers and the official vote count itself.

In a lengthy message on the social media platform X, Petro said that, for him, the president-elect is not De la Espriella but left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, the candidate of his coalition, the Historic Pact. De la Espriella won the runoff with 49.66% of the vote (12,959,515) against Cepeda's 48.70% (12,708,695), a margin of less than one percentage point, according to official figures from the National Registry.

The result was confirmed by the National Electoral Council on June 24. That same day, Cepeda had conceded defeat and Petro, while still questioning the process, agreed to begin the handover with the incoming team — a process that continues ahead of the transfer of power set for August 7. The president's latest stance sharpens that challenge without, so far, having halted the transition.

Petro claimed that algorithms were run from a server with an IP address in Los Angeles to alter the count in De la Espriella's favor. He has provided no public evidence for the assertion. International election observers described the vote as orderly and transparent, the National Registry reported more than 99.9% correspondence between the preliminary and final counts, and judicial and oversight bodies have stayed out of the president's accusations.

Separately, a former ally of the president, lawyer Luis Guillermo Pérez, is promoting a lawsuit to annul the election before the Council of State that, if admitted, would seek to suspend the inauguration through a precautionary measure. The action has not yet been filed.

Cepeda, for his part, announced “civil disobedience” against the incoming government, a stance that questions the president-elect's legitimacy but accepts the transition in practice. Petro also called for demonstrations on July 20. Figures close to De la Espriella have signaled legal action over alleged irregularities in the handover, while some have raised the possibility of criminal proceedings against Petro.