That rightward swing in Central and South America sure seems to be on course, even when it’s predicted to have skewed momentarily back to the Leftists.
The biggest issue facing Colombians is how to handle the FARC rebels and criminal elements in the country. The candidate of the party in power, Ivan Cepeda, has vowed to continue the most unsuccessful efforts of the current regime, while the opposition candidates favor a Bukele-style crackdown after years of ineffectual programs and goose chases.
Mr. Cepeda was feeling his oats, as they say, and why not? As the hand-picked successor to Petro and comfortably ahead of everyone in the polls?
Mi nombre es Iván Cepeda Castro y en 48 horas seré su próximo Presidente de Colombia en Primera Vuelta. pic.twitter.com/k9Ci8Gf7l2
— Iván Cepeda Presidente (@EstamosConIvan) May 29, 2026
My name is Iván Cepeda Castro and in 48 hours I will be your next President of Colombia in the First Round.
No worries for the next suave and debonair Marxist on deck.
So, Colombia held the first round of its presidential elections yesterday, and – lo and behold – a nasty surprise emerged from the ballot boxes for the party of President Gustav Petro.
The dark-horse Trumpian candidate nearly blew the doors off the competition.
Because Petro and the overly cocky Cepeda did not appreciate being surprised by voters’ will, there were obviously ‘irregularities’ in the elections.
Pro-Trump candidate pulls ahead in Colombia presidential vote as ruling party sows doubt in results
Tough-on-crime outsider Aberaldo de la Espriella took the lead in Colombia’s presidential race in the first round of voting Sunday night, setting up a runoff with Iván Cepeda, an ally of Colombia’s outgoing President Gustavo Petro who questioned the results of the election.
With no candidate taking an outright majority of the vote, the election will head to a second round in June.
But Cepeda and Petro sowed doubt in the results of the first round, claiming without evidence that hundreds of thousands of votes were manipulated and that foreign actors manipulated the results of the election.
Cepeda said he was waiting for electoral authorities to scrutinize the results before accepting the election.
“Only when the vote-counting commissions have fully clarified what happened will we comment on tonight’s results,” Cepeda said, though he acknowledged the vote was likely going to a second round.
Mr. Espriella, who apparently came out of nowhere, is reportedly a lawyer who has spent the last twenty years watching cartel members walk free and decided to do something about it.
It seems the people of Colombia were responding to that sentiment and very nearly gave him the fifty percent he needed to win outright.
¡Otro golpe para la izquierda! 👊
El derechista @ABDELAESPRIELLA ganó la primera vuelta en la elección presidencial de Colombia 🇨🇴.
Otra prueba de que sí se puede sacar a la izquierda del poder.
La libertad siempre encuentra el camino y México es el que sigue 🇲🇽. pic.twitter.com/S8VGZPeir1
— América Rangel (@AmerangelLorenz) June 1, 2026
…Another blow for the left! 👊
The right-winger @ABDELAESPRIELLA won the first round in Colombia’s presidential election 🇨🇴.
Another proof that yes, it is possible to remove the left from power.
Freedom always finds a way, and Mexico is next 🇲🇽.
What happened yesterday was a seismic blow to the hard Left in Colombia, as Petro expected his puppet to win easily, negating a second round. Espriella had never polled anywhere near this popular – my personal take on that is voters didn’t want him assassinated before the election, which was a real possibility had he been tagged as a threat, thanks to his popularity.
All one has to do is remember charismatic anti-Petro campaigner Miguel Oribe, shot in the head by a 15-year-old assassin last June after three years of vilification by Petro.
…Miguel Uribe succumbed to his ghastly wound on August 11, and no question in anyone’s mind from where the trigger being pulled was directed.
And now that Espriella has cemented close to half the vote, he is well-positioned to triumph in the second round as the third-place challenger, Paloma Valencia (also a hardliner on crime), immediately threw her endorsement his way as results came in.
💥🇨🇴 EXCELENTE GESTO
La candidata Paloma Valencia, que quedó en tercer lugar en las elecciones de Colombia, anuncia su apoyo a Abelardo de La Espriella para vencer al comunista Iván Cepeda.
¿Apoyas la correcta decisión de la candidata? 👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/1v8JW5EWfA— Carlo Martin (@Liberfach0) June 1, 2026
EXCELLENT GESTURE Candidate Paloma Valencia, who came in third place in the Colombian elections, announces her support for Abelardo de La Espriella to defeat the communist Iván Cepeda.
Observers anticipate that, as Espriella will also pull in a majority of the votes that went to the fourth-place finisher, the distant Sergio Farjardo, he is well positioned to take the June 21 second-round run-off easily. The election odds already reflect that.
BREAKING:
Hard-right candidate @ABDELAESPRIELLA has WON the 1st round of the Colombian presidential election with 43% of the votes
It’s a huge shock for Colombia’s political elite & pollsters who didn’t see it coming
He now has a 90% chance on @Polymarket to win the 2nd round pic.twitter.com/QqRUb3x7a6
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 31, 2026
A desperate-sounding Petro has since refined his ‘irregularities’ complaints to ghost votes added by electronic machines, and he has declared the count, therefore, ‘has no binding force.’
Commies gonna commie.
Abelardo de La Espriella went nuclear on Petro.
🚨🇨🇴 ¡ARDE COLOMBIA! 🇨🇴🚨
Abelardo De La Espriella eufórico.
Arremetió con toda contra Petro ante las palabras de que no reconoce el resultado de las elecciones. 💥
“Petro es un delincuente, drogadicto y miserable y Cepeda el heredero de las FARC”.
Pidió al Ejército… pic.twitter.com/e3hXmYzlLf
— DianitaTeRetrata (@dianitanoticias) June 1, 2026
🚨🇨🇴 COLOMBIA IS BURNING! 🇨🇴🚨
Abelardo De La Espriella is euphoric.
He went all out against Petro over his words that he doesn’t recognize the election results. 💥
“Petro is a criminal, drug addict, and wretch, and Cepeda is the heir to the FARC.”
He called on the Army to activate constitutional mechanisms if they steal democracy. 🇨🇴
As one X friend said, it’s getting awfully lonely to be a lefty commie in South America, and, for that matter, Latin America, as well.
For my American friends 😂 pic.twitter.com/oK7Tk8fdtv
— America the Great!🇺🇸 (@GOP2A4LIFE) June 1, 2026
A note: the reason this Xweet says ‘for my American friends‘ is because the traditional color for the conservative right-wing in Latin and South America is BLUE. We do it the exact opposite.
In September, Gustavo Petro was banned from entering the United States after pulling this stunt at the United Nations.
Wait, why is the president of Colombia, a foreign nation, on American soil leading a protest against Trump? pic.twitter.com/7J7F8UbbKT
— TaraBull (@TaraBull) September 27, 2025
Petro said: “I ask all soldiers in the United States Army not to point their rifles at humanity. Disobey Trump’s order! Obey the order of humanity!“
Petro ‘progressive’ allies are busy trying to claim the United States is exerting undue influence on the election because Ohio’s Senator Bernie Moreno has a ‘documented history’ of antipathy to the Petro government.
Yeesh – this is some weak sauce.
From on the ground in Bogotá, the Observatory of the Progressive International is issuing an urgent alert regarding conduct by US Senator Bernie Moreno that appears to constitute a direct violation of Colombia’s electoral law — and demands immediate investigation by the Consejo Nacional Electoral.
Senator Moreno arrived in Colombia today as part of a broader US delegation formally accredited to observe Sunday’s presidential election.
…Senator Moreno appears to have already violated these laws. According to multiple Colombian and international media reports published today, Senator Moreno has planned a meeting with the two leading right-wing presidential candidates — Paloma Valencia and Abelardo de la Espriella — with the explicit purpose of facilitating their political rapprochement ahead of a possible runoff against the Pacto Histórico on June 21.
This constitutes an active political intervention in the electoral process by a foreign national operating under the cover of an observer mandate.
The intervention follows a pattern that pre-dates the arrival of the US delegation. Senator Moreno is a member of the Republican Party with documented personal ties to Colombia’s conservative elite — and a public record of hostility toward the Petro government.
His team brought to the White House a document — captured in photographs and reported by NBC News — bearing AI-produced images of President Petro in a prison jumpsuit, alongside proposals for US sanctions against Petro and his family. Those sanctions were subsequently imposed.
Hopefully, on June 21, the Colombian people yank Petro and his puppets out of the presidential palace for good.
In the so very dangerous interim, may the good Lord commence watching over Abelardo De La Espriella from this moment forward.
He’s going to need a guardian angel…or ten.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
Help us continue to report on the administration’s peace through strength foreign policy and its successes. Join HotAir VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
