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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tiago Rogero South America correspondent

Colombia’s far-right presidential candidate De la Espriella wins first round of vote ahead of runoff

Abelardo de la Espriella gestures triumphantly to supporters
Abelardo de la Espriella addresses supporters in Barranquilla after the results of the first round of Colombia’s presidential election. Photograph: Charlie Cordero/Reuters

A far-right lawyer and Donald Trump admirer will go head-to-head against leftwing senator Iván Cepeda in the race to be Colombia’s next president after he won a surprise victory in the first round of voting.

With 100% of ballots counted, the outsider Abelardo de la Espriella secured 43.7% of the vote – just over 10.3m votes – compared with 40.9% (about 9.6m votes) for Cepeda, a philosopher and human rights activist who has served as a senator since 2014 and is backed by the current leftwing president, Gustavo Petro.

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