After a tight presidential contest in Colombia, early estimates suggest outsider Abelardo de la Espriella has a narrow lead over leftist rival Ivan Cepeda.
On Sunday evening, the country’s election authorities said de la Asprilla had won 43% of the vote and Cepeda had won 42%, with half of the votes having been counted.
Neither of them is on track to clear the 50% hurdle needed to secure the presidency, making it likely that the outcome will be decided in a runoff round.
Frontrunner Abelardo de la Espriella has often portrayed himself as a tough crime fighter who has also spoken out in support of US President Donald Trump. The 47-year-old businessman’s campaign style has been compared to that of El Salvador’s right-wing President Nayib Bukele.
Left-leaning senator Ivan Cepeda, 63, has promised to expand social reforms. Incumbent President Gustavo Petro, who cannot legally seek a second term, has thrown his support behind Cepeda.
Colombia: What do the candidates want?
Candidates are campaigning on promises to tackle armed, drug-wielding guerrilla groups, reduce inequality and poverty, and reform the country’s healthcare system – albeit in different ways.
The leftist Cepeda, the son of a slain communist leader, has promised to make peace with illegal armed cartels through negotiations, a policy that has made little progress under Petro.
De la Espriella has promised a tough crackdown on the groups, proposing the construction of 10 “mega-prisons”. In addition to his pledge to crack down on crime, he promised to fight poverty with education, health care and social housing.
On poverty and health, Cepeda wants to see wealth distributed more equally by raising taxes on high-income earners to fund the expansion of Colombia’s healthcare system. He has also proposed to gift 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) of land to victims of the country’s six-decade internal conflict.
Pre-election polls placed Cepeda in a significant lead, and also predicted a close three-way race with right-wing senator Paloma Valencia, who finished with less than 7% of the vote.
Valencia had urged tax breaks for companies to create more jobs and lift Colombians out of poverty. He also proposed additional funding for social programs and health care – which would be financed not by taxation but by renewed oil and gas exploration.
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Edited by: Darko Janjevic