Trump Endorses Abelardo De La Espriella, Right-Wing Presidential Candidate in Colombia
President Trump entered the presidential election in Colombia on Tuesday night, energetically supporting a right-wing candidate in a pattern of putting his finger on the scale of foreign elections in his second term.
Posting on Truth Social, Mr. Trump congratulated Abelardo De La Espriella, who reached the second round in Sunday’s election in June, where he will face a candidate from the party of incumbent left-wing president Gustavo Petro.
“The results of this Election are crucial to the future of Colombia and its relationship with the United States,” Mr. Trump wrote in a post full of praise for Mr. De La Espriella, whom he referred to by his campaign nickname, “El Tigre,” or Kaplan. “For his tremendous achievements in life and the political support he has given me personally, it is my honor to give Abelardo my Full and Total Endorsement.”
Mr. Trump, whose support for like-minded leaders has helped fuel a right-wing wave in Latin America, also described the candidate’s runoff opponent, Iván Cepeda, as a “Radical Left Marxist.”
Mr. Cepeda’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday night, Mr. De La Espriella thanked Mr. Trump “for his steadfast support” and promised to strengthen U.S.-Colombia relations “like never before.”
“It is very important to understand that the United States is committed to fighting crime, fighting narcoterrorism, and ridding Colombia of so much pain and so much violence once and for all,” he said. Interview with a Colombian news channel.
The US president’s support, almost unthinkable in the past, has become a wild card in elections in the region. Last year, Mr. Trump supported a right-wing candidate who won the Honduran election. He also backed the party of Argentine president Javier Milei in a decisive by-election.
Mr. Trump’s chosen candidate in Colombia is a 47-year-old criminal defense lawyer who has never held office. After spending most of his career in Florida and more recently in Florence, Italy, Mr. De La Espriella returned to Colombia last year to run for his country’s highest office.
He presented himself as an outsider in the vein of Mr. Trump, an efficient cost-cutter like Mr. Milei and a security hardliner akin to Nayib Bukele in El Salvador. This message has proven effective for a population alarmed by resurgent armed conflicts and an increase in violence and organized crime.
Mr. De La Espriella emerged late in the campaign with a message that revolved around traditional values and defeated the left, overcoming the establishment candidate on the right who relied on the support of some of Colombia’s most powerful politicians. Mr. De La Espriella received more than 43 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election; that was a few points more than Mr. Cepeda.
Since the support of both candidates does not exceed 50 percent, they will face each other again on June 21.
Mr. Cepeda, 63, a serious senator known for defending victims of Colombia’s armed conflict, ran a much less flashy campaign than Mr. De La Espriella. But experts say he is encouraged by voters’ support for Mr. Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, and his efforts to address poverty and represent historically marginalized groups. Two of them belong to the Pacto Histórico party.
Mr. De La Espriella, who once boasted a lavish lifestyle abroad, has been scrutinized by Colombian journalists in the past for the source of his wealth and his connections to controversial Colombian clients. The most prominent of these is Alex Saab, a billionaire businessman and fixer for Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro who has been detained by the United States. U.S. prosecutors accused Mr. Saab of laundering millions of dollars destined for Venezuela’s poor.
As Mr. De La Espriella rose in the polls, he won the support of U.S. Republican lawmakers on the right, from Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar to Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno. On Tuesday, before Mr. Trump announced his full-throated support for Mr. De La Espriella, Mr. Moreno said in a call with reporters that U.S. officials had “vetted” Mr. De La Espriella and found him “flawless.”
Mr. Moreno, originally from Colombia, traveled to the country over the weekend to monitor the elections. He said it had gone smoothly, marking on the transparency and orderliness of the process.
President Petro said there were irregularities amounting to fraud. Analysts say this raises concerns that he is sowing distrust in the country’s electoral institutions, potentially setting the stage for protests. Mr. Cepeda, who initially questioned the count, accepted the results.
Mr Petro on Tuesday wrote About
Luis Ferré-Sadurní And Genevieve Glatsky contributed to the reporting.
