Colombia Trump-Backed Race

Conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella appeared poised to win Colombia’s presidential runoff, leading left-wing Senator Iván Cepeda by about one percentage point with nearly all ballots counted. Preliminary figures put de la Espriella at roughly 49.7% to Cepeda’s 48.7%, a margin of about 251,000 votes, though officials had not yet formally certified the result. President Donald Trump endorsed de la Espriella, a wealthy lawyer and businessman known as “El Tigre,” and congratulated him at the White House as supporters celebrated in the streets. Cepeda and allies on the left challenged the count, keeping the polarized race unsettled even as de la Espriella’s apparent victory signaled a rightward shift in Colombia and added to conservative gains across Latin America.