Ultra-right lawyer and left-wing senator compete in 2nd round in Colombia: find out who they are

Abelardo de la Espriella and Iván Cepeda
Reuters/Luisa Gonzalez; Reuters/Sergio Acero
Colombia goes to the polls this Sunday (31) for the second round of the presidential elections in a dispute between left and right. On one side is left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, supported by current president Gustavo Petro. On the other, the ultra-right lawyer Abelardo De la Espriella.
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▶ Context: The winner of the election will succeed Gustavo Petro, who has been in power since 2022. Unlike Brazil, the Colombian Constitution does not allow re-election to the Presidency.
Electoral polls indicate a victory for the right-wing candidate Abelardo De la Espriella, with an advantage ranging from 3 to 8 percentage points, depending on the survey. Check out the profiles of the candidates below:
Senator and philosopher: who is Iván Cepeda
Colombian presidential candidate Iván Cepeda on May 21, 2026
REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
Senator and philosopher, Iván Cepeda is part of the Historic Pact party and represents the Colombian left.
The senator is 63 years old and defends the continuity of the policies adopted by the Petro government. He became known mainly for acting in the mediation of peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), an agreement signed in 2016.
Despite the agreement, in which the FARC agreed to disarm, dissident guerrilla groups remain active and are held responsible for the violence in the country.
Cepeda was also the center of a judicial process that resulted in the arrest of former president Álvaro Uribe.
In 2012, Uribe accused the leftist of organizing a plot to link him to paramilitary groups.
Six years later, the Court concluded that Cepeda acted within his parliamentary role and that Uribe tried to influence witnesses through third parties.
In 2025, however, the Superior Court of Bogotá acquitted the former president of charges of bribery and procedural fraud.
As a candidate for Presidency, Cepeda defends dialogue as a way to end the armed conflict with guerrillas. He also supports an increase in the minimum wage, a reduction in benefits for congressmen and an agrarian reform.
Bukele's 'lookalike': who is Abelardo De la Espriella
Colombian and right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella on May 7, 2026
REUTERS/Nathalia Angarita
In second place in the polls is lawyer Abelardo De la Espriella. At 47 years old, he leads the ultra-right Defenders of the Fatherland movement.
The candidate claims to admire right-wing politicians, such as the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele - with whom he has a certain physical similarity.
De la Espriella gained strength in the final stretch of the campaign. Unlike Cepeda, he does not believe that the guerrilla problem will be resolved through dialogue. To address the issue, he promises a military offensive.
Two members of the candidate's campaign were shot dead on May 15. Espriella also accused members of Colombian intelligence of participating in a plan to assassinate him.
Known by the nickname "El Tigre", the lawyer also defends removing Colombia from international organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS). According to him, these institutions serve to promote "left-wing policies".
At the same time as he adopts a hard-line speech, the candidate maintains a website called "De la Espriella Style", where he sells alcoholic drinks, books, songs in which he sings and even clothes in which he appears as a poster boy.
De la Espriella has also been involved in controversies. In a TV interview, for example, he boasted about the size of his genitals and stated that this helped him win votes.
The lawyer was also questioned for having defended Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman accused by the US government of acting as an agent for Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Saab was deported to the United States in May.
De la Espriella claims that the professional relationship with Saab began before the accusations emerged. According to him, the two stopped working together six years ago.
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Source: G1