![Alberto Beingolea: “If they insist on not giving [the powers], they are complicating life for Peru”](https://insightermedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/bb3fa9e11304ea13fe2cd333955007bc-150x150.webp "Alberto Beingolea: “If they insist on not giving [the powers], they are complicating life for Peru”")
Abelardo de la Espriella sets aside Bogotá and will be sworn in at a university auditorium in Cali. The opposition raises the figure of civil disobedience, terrorist threats arise, and the outgoing Gustavo Petro might not leave him room to maneuver
Whether liked more or less by supporters or detractors, Petro’s mandate broke molds and inherits legacies
Political scientist Patricia Muñoz Yi argues that Abelardo de la Espriella capitalized on the conservative vote and anti-Petrist sentiment with a more confrontational discourse that displaced the traditional right. Although he arrives as the favorite in the second round, she warns that Iván Cepeda retains key electoral strongholds and that the country’s polarization keeps the dispute for the Presidency of Colombia open.
Abelardo de la Espriella, who represents a hard and populist right, according to experts, will face Iván Cepeda, candidate of the Petro left.
Colombia Elections 2026 | Abelardo de la Espriella, who appears in second place in the voting intention polls, went to vote at La Enseñanza school surrounded by a cloud of bodyguards and supporters chanting “yes we can, yes we can”
Colombia Elections 2026 live: candidates, incidents, and results of the May 31 election day | Iván Cepeda | Abelardo de la Espriella | Paloma Valencia lbposting