US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was pleased that candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, whom he had supported, won Colombia’s presidential runoff.
Trump commented on the election results in a post on his Truth Social platform. "He won big," he said.
De la Espriella won following a razor-thin finish, according to preliminary results by the National Civil Registry.
With 99.93% of the ballots tallied in the rapid pre-count system, De la Espriella, representing the Defensores de la Patria party, secured 49.65% of the vote, narrowly defeating Senator Ivan Cepeda of the ruling leftist Pacto Historico coalition, with 48.7%.
The tight margin left a gap of less than 248,000 votes, triggering an immediate institutional standoff over who will govern the South American nation for the 2026-2030 term.
Both outgoing President Gustavo Petro and Cepeda have refused to recognize the verdict as final, citing voting irregularities and launching a massive legal challenge to contest tens of thousands of polling stations.
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