‘Institutional threat’: election of far-right leader raises fears for democracy in Colombia | Colombia

In 2012, when more than 20 women accused a Colombian evangelical pastor of sexually abusing them, the defendant’s lawyer attempted to rebut the allegations by telling the court: “trepadoras” – a derogatory term meaning social climbers.

Although the case continued, he ultimately acquitted his client. under review by the supreme court – but footage of the remarks resurfaced during Colombia’s presidential campaign, sparking outrage among many progressive voters.

Yesterday, that lawyer was elected the next president of Colombia.

Abelardo de la Espriella, who calls himself “El Tigre” (The Tiger), a millionaire who began his legal career defending paramilitary leaders and has never held public office, defeated left-wing senator Iván Cepeda by a razor-thin margin of just 250,000 votes out of 41 million voters.

On August 7, he will replace Gustavo Petro, the country’s first and only left-wing president, marking a sharp rightward turn for the country – and De la Espriella is seen as much further to the right than Colombia’s long line of conservative presidents.

Although De la Espriella said in his victory speech that he would respect the constitution and the rights of “all Colombians,” the election of a 47-year-old self-described “foreigner” who has vowed to “disembowel” the left, use lethal force against protesters, and kill criminals like “rats and cockroaches” has left many analysts and activists concerned about the risks he could pose to Colombian democracy.

“This scares me,” said Catalina Ruiz-Navarro, co-founder and editor of the feminist magazine Volcánicas. “Despite Colombia’s strong institutions, we face an institutional threat unlike anything we have experienced before.”

His election is also the latest confirmation that a far-right wave is sweeping presidential elections in Latin America.

An outspoken admirer of US president Donald Trump, who supported his campaign, De la Espriella was inspired by him and other conservative leaders in the region, particularly El Salvador’s populist autocrat Nayib Bukele.

Colombia’s next president has vowed to emulate Bukele’s controversial crackdown on gangs to confront a decades-long armed conflict in which criminal groups fight each other and the military for control of territory and cocaine trafficking routes, fueling killings, forced displacement, massacres and kidnappings.

Inspired by Brazil’s Bolsonaro family, he transformed Colombia’s national football jersey into a jersey. symbol of the far right. De la Espriella borrowed the cat mascot (a lion in Argentina’s case) from Argentina’s Javier Milei and shrunk it by 40%, promising to buy the province a “chainsaw.”

Some analysts consider disruptions of this scale to be particularly worrying and suggest they could lead to a crisis. economic crisis and – the state already struggles Maintaining a presence in large swaths of the country – inadvertently empowering criminal groups by creating a vacuum to fill.

“We have never faced a threat of this magnitude,” said Ana Bejarano Ricaurte, a lawyer and co-director of El Veinte, a legal advocacy organization that defends freedom of expression. “He promised a reactionary agenda in terms of civil rights and fundamental rights: an anti-abortion agenda, an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda… He promised to withdraw Colombia, which is the guiding light for the protection of human rights here, from the inter-American human rights system.

“He adopted an almost tailor-made formula for right-wing populism in Latin America.”

De la Espriella was born in the capital Bogotá, but grew up in the Córdoba region in Colombia’s Caribbean.

The son of a former Liberal state congressman and a lawyer who twice failed to win election as governor, De la Espriella followed in his father’s legal footsteps, initially taking on small civil and business cases.

The turning point came in the early 2000s, when paramilitaries (private armies created by right-wing landowners to fight left-wing guerrilla groups) began negotiating demobilization with the government. De la Espriella participated in the talks as “a member of civil society” but quickly became a lawyer for some militia leaders.

As his profile grew, he accepted other high-profile clients, including pastor Álvaro Gámez. accused of abuse female followers; head of a financial pyramid scheme allegedly used for laundering drug trafficking money; and Alex Saab, accused by US authorities of being the main financial spearhead of Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.

His campaign said it was his “success in the courts that laid the foundations of his fortune”, allowing him to expand into other ventures including rum, wine, menswear, construction and agribusiness. He also published five books and recorded two albums in which he hummed popular classics. An investigation by Colombian news outlet La Silla Vacía found that most of his other businesses, apart from his law firm, were operate at a loss.

He lived in Miami for years and received US citizenship in 2023; He also holds Italian citizenship. He often exhibited his photos on social media lavish lifestyleincluding yacht trips and private jet travel between his various homes.

In July last year, a month after right-wing senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot during a campaign event – he died in August – De la Espriella announced He said he would run for president to fight “with an iron fist the corrupt, unpunished criminals and all those who threaten the existence of Colombia.”

With heavy investment in social media, he gradually gained the support of influencers and football players. His rallies looked like him pop concertsGiant screens were filled with drone demonstrations Videos created by artificial intelligenceAnd songs. De la Espriella appeared from behind wearing a bulletproof vest. bulletproof glass; The vehicle equipped with transparent armored casing carried him to his victory speech. comparisons Nicknamed Papamobile “tiger mobile”.

Instead of handing out campaign merchandise to supporters, he sold everything from $6 stickers and $17 keychains to a gift. roaring tiger head statue It was painted in the colors of the Colombian flag for $640 and $5,800 watch.

De la Espriella promised to withdraw the country from the UN. extradite Petro instructed the United States to build 10 maximum-security “mega prisons,” legalize civilian gun ownership, and “capture or kill” 10 major crime leaders within his first three months in office. Room supports fossil fuel extraction, break and a relaxation environmental licensing requirements.

With minimal legislative support, the president-elect has promised to issue 90 executive orders on his first day in office; This is reminiscent of the broad governing style of neighboring Ecuador’s far-right president, Daniel Noboa. criticized Because of his extensive use of presidential decrees, especially states of emergency.

“These 90 decisions promised by de la Espriella may be illegal and ultimately challenged in court, but by the time the courts resolve the issue, those rights may have already been lost. We have seen this happen in the United States,” Ruiz-Navarro said.

Over the years, De la Espriella filed more than 100 lawsuits against journalists. “He tried to silence anyone who said something he didn’t agree with,” Ricaurte said.

The next president of Colombia, an atheist who became a devout Catholic after the death of a relative homophobia for mockingly imitating a gay candidate and engaging in sexism. multiple situations. In a statement, he said that under his government “no one will be persecuted, discriminated against or excluded because of their sexual orientation, personal beliefs or lifestyle.”

Ricaurte said his rhetoric was “full of misogyny, hatred and exclusion, and despite that rhetoric, people didn’t vote for him. That’s why people voted for him. And that’s an extremely concerning sign for the health of our nation.”