Law-and-order candidate rises as Colombians prepare for presidential vote
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The hard-line, law-and-order candidate who promises to dismantle drug cartels and reset Colombia’s security doctrine is attracting voters’ attention as Colombians vote in Sunday’s presidential election.
As the world’s largest cocaine producer and a long-time security partner of the United States, Colombia’s domestic policies directly affect drug flows, migration dynamics, and regional stability.
Analysts believe a change in Bogotá’s leadership could reshape cooperation with Washington on drug interdiction, intelligence sharing and anti-cartel operations that are at the heart of US domestic and foreign policy.
Abelardo De La Espriella, a businessman and successful defense lawyer, has emerged as a leading candidate on the right with a platform focused on aggressive anti-drug enforcement, institutional reform and a decisive break with current leftist President Gustavo Petro’s negotiated approach with armed rebel groups.
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A supporter of Colombia’s Defensores de la Patria party presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella takes a selfie while awaiting his arrival at his final campaign rally on May 23, 2026 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Presidential elections will be held in Colombia on May 31. (Vanessa Romero/AFP via Getty Images)
The 47-year-old, nicknamed ‘Tiger’, recently told the Associated Press: “The only peace process I believe in is one enforced by force of arms and the laws of the republic. Under my government, any bandit who resists will be properly eliminated, and if he surrenders, we will incarcerate him in a mega prison so he can pay his debt to justice as he should.”
His rise reflects a regional pattern seen in leaders such as Javier Milei, Nayib Bukele and José Antonio Kast, who built political momentum around security-first agendas and voters’ frustration with crime and economic instability.
According to an Associated Press report, polls show De La Espriella will compete against left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, who is from the same party as President Gustavo Petro, and center-right candidate Paloma Valencia. There are 14 candidates in the ballot.
Presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella of Colombia’s Defensores de la Patria party speaks from behind bulletproof glass during his closing campaign rally in Medellin, Colombia, on May 24, 2026. Presidential elections will be held in Colombia on May 31. (Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP via Getty Images)
Valencia’s campaign is supported by most of the country’s traditional parties and economists who are concerned about rising debt levels under Petro and want Colombia to return to more orthodox policies, the Associated Press reported.
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“As president of Colombia, we will restore a strategic, close and trusting relationship with the United States based on mutual respect and the defense of our national interests. We will strengthen cooperation in security, intelligence, military training and the fight against transnational crime, areas where the alliance between the two countries is vital for the stability of Colombia. We will also work to ensure that Colombia plays an active role in the Shield of the Americas and contributes to regional leadership in defense and security,” Valencia told Fox News Digital.
He added: “The United States will remain a key partner in economic growth, investment, and job creation, as well as a vital ally for the millions of Colombians living there. Colombia will also join the United States in defending freedom and democracy in the hemisphere, supporting efforts to restore freedom in Cuba, and helping Venezuela return to a democratic path. Our relationship will be defined by trust, cooperation, and the effort to deliver tangible benefits for Colombia and its citizens.”
Democratic Center party presidential candidate Paloma Valencia at the Gran Consulta Por Colombia election night rally in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. Senator Paloma Valencia is now among the favorites to become Colombia’s next president after winning a landslide victory in Sunday’s primary elections. (Nathalia Angarita/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Critics say left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda represents a continuation and potential expansion of left-wing policies associated with Petro. Cepeda places greater emphasis on social investment, supporting dialogue with armed groups, rural reform, and reform of Colombia’s traditional security framework.
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Camilo Guzmán, Libertank’s chief executive, told Fox News Digital that Sunday’s election will likely result in a runoff between Cepeda and De La Espriella. “Abelardo won this ticket by reading the floor better than anyone in the opposition. He offered catharsis by directly voicing Colombian voters’ anger at the traditional political class and establishment.
While center-right Sen. Paloma Valencia offers competence and continuity in the Uribe tradition, De La Espriella’s message “is built on a hard line on security,” Guzman said. “To end Petro’s failed ‘total peace’ policy that emboldened guerrillas and cartels, to go after drug trafficking with full force, and to rebuild the counter-narcotics alliance with Washington that Petro spent four years dismantling.”“
Analysts say the results carry significant strategic weight for the United States. A De La Espriella administration could align more closely with Washington’s traditional counternarcotics priorities and potentially strengthen bilateral cooperation at a time when the flow of synthetic drugs and organized crime networks are expanding across the hemisphere.
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Presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda from Colombia’s Pacto Historico party speaks to supporters during his final campaign rally in Barranquilla, in the Atlantico region of Colombia, on May 24, 2026. (Vanessa Romero/AFP via Getty Images)
Beyond bilateral relations, the election is also being closely followed as a potential turning point for Latin America. A win by De La Espriella or Valencia would strengthen the momentum of security-focused leadership seen in some parts of the region, while Cepeda’s presidency would signal the continuity of Petro’s policies.
José Manuel Restrepo, who is running for vice president on the ticket with De La Espriella, spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital. “The relationship between Colombia and the United States needs to be repaired and rebuilt, and this starts with a robust security policy to combat drug trafficking. It will be crucial to move beyond the current deteriorating relationship, where we have lost our historic bilateral, bicameral, bipartisan and multisectoral relationship with our main trade and investment partner.”
Jose Manuel Restrepo, Colombia’s former finance minister and vice presidential candidate of the Defenders of the Homeland party, during a campaign rally in Bogota, Colombia, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Nathalia Angarita/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He continued: “To strengthen this, we must seize the opportunity for Colombia to be the best possible ally of the United States in restoring democracy in Venezuela. Leveraging this relationship with the United States, we can play an important role in investing in food, hygiene products and basic needs from Colombia to Venezuela. This, among other things, will give a new direction to relations with the United States and create new opportunities that will benefit Colombia… Under our administration, relations with the United States will be strengthened and revitalized.”
Guzman noted: “De La Espriella’s anti-establishment stance is not a libertarian agenda. His economic program relies on price controls, interest rate subsidies, and import substitution; closer to old-style Latin American populism than Bukele’s pro-investment turn and a world away from Milei’s free-market project. Whether the accompanying economic program will create new instability south of the border is an open question.”
Supporters of presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda from Colombia’s Pacto Historico party attend a campaign rally at Plaza Bolivar in Bogota on May 22, 2026. (Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images)
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Jerónimo Uribe, analyst, entrepreneur and son of the former president, said the risks in Sunday’s presidential race could not be clearer. “The elections in Colombia are not between right and left. They are between a communist model supported by drug traffickers and a model that advocates democracy and freedom,” he told Fox News Digital.
Representatives for Cepeda did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
