Colombians to vote in presidential run-off pitting leftist against hardliner

Colombians are heading to the polls to choose their next president in a run-off election, pitting a leftist heir to the country’s progressive government against a far-right outsider promising a crackdown on crime.

The vote takes place on Sunday, when more than 41 million eligible voters will decide between lawmaker Ivan Cepeda and criminal defence lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, after the pair emerged from a field of 11 candidates in a first-round vote on May 31.

Both candidates are framing their campaigns around preventing a return to the kind of widespread violence – car bombings, kidnappings, disappearances – that has scarred Colombia in the past decades, though their proposed solutions sit at opposite ends of the political spectrum.

De la Espriella is proposing a heavy-handed approach that has earned him the endorsement of United States President Donald Trump.

The political newcomer, nicknamed “The Tiger”, has promised to fiercely go after criminals and build 10 mega-prisons, emulating the policies of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele that have lowered homicide rates but prompted accusations of human rights abuses.

Cepeda is promising to continue President Gustavo Petro’s efforts, including attempts at establishing dialogue with multiple armed groups, even though those efforts have largely failed.

The heavily criticised strategy that Petro kicked off in 2022 took until Thursday to see the first armed group – one with about 100 members – give up its weapons and begin a resettlement process that would lead to its reintegration into civilian life.

The two candidates are also offering differing solutions to the country’s struggling health system, ballooning public debt, and entrenched corruption.

“Right now, what worries me is the polarisation that exists between us: There are two very extreme sides, and the violence is concerning,” John Manrique, a lawyer in the capital, Bogota, said.

“What I hope is that people accept who won,” he added. “Let’s accept it, regardless of the side, and try to reach a social consensus. … Let’s not go out and fight.”

In the first round, Cepeda earned 41 percent of the vote, while de la Espriella garnered 44 percent, according to official results.

Petro, without evidence, cast doubt on the results after Cepeda, who had consistently led polls before the May vote, did not win outright and even finished behind de la Espriella.

A decade since the FARC peace deal

The election comes 10 years after Colombia signed a historic peace pact with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which had offered hope to break the nation’s vicious cycle of fighting between armed groups and the government.

But violence has since roared back, particularly as most rebel groups abandoned their ideologically driven fight for the financial benefits of drug trafficking.

Last year, authorities recorded 14,780 homicides, the most since at least 2015 and driven by clashes among illegal armed groups. Among those killed was conservative presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe.

Cases of extortion have also soared, reaching 13,417 in 2025, more than double the number tallied in 2015.