Colombia’s presidential runoff neared final counting with the right-wing candidate ahead

Colombia’s presidential runoff was close to its final count. With roughly 95% of ballots tallied, right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella had nearly 50% of the vote, while leftist Ivan Cepeda had about 48.4%, a gap of roughly 368,000 votes. De la Espriella campaigned on a tougher crime stance, a smaller state and oil development; Cepeda sought to continue welfare reforms and peace talks with armed groups. The result remains preliminary and should not yet be treated as an official victory.