Left versus right: What to know about Colombia’s highly polarised presidential election

‘Architect’ vs ‘The Tiger’

Cepeda, a senator and longtime human rights activist, is known as an ally of outgoing incumbent Gustavo Petro, also the country’s first left-wing president. He was considered the “architect” of Petro’s “total peace” strategy, which prioritises dialogue over military confrontation when it comes to engagement with armed groups. Colombia has notably had a decades-long history of violence by these guerrilla groups.

Cepeda was also involved in the negotiations that led to the 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the armed group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which saw thousands of rebel fighters lay down arms.

But his political ties to Petro — they both belong to the Historic Pact party — have also appeared to work against him, as he finished second in the initial runoff despite pre-election polls having propped him up as the favourite. On his part, Cepeda has promised to implement economic reforms, which includes expansion of welfare benefits and land redistribution to victims of internal conflict. He has also pledged to evaluate the government’s peace strategy and change tack if necessary.

On the other side of the political spectrum is de la Espriella, whose vote share in the first round surprised most observers. A former criminal defence lawyer and businessman, de la Espriella has dubbed himself “El Tigre” (the tiger). Throughout his campaign, he has painted himself as the establishment outsider a la US President Donald Trump — a comparison that became even more stark when Trump endorsed his candidacy while calling Cepeda a “radical left Marxist”.

Some of de la Espriella’s campaign planks include advocating a tough stance on crime, besides closer co-operation with the Trump-led US administration for military support. He has also seemingly borrowed ideas from other Latin American right-wing leaders, such as the promise to build mega-prisons in the jungle (similar to El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele) and implement cost-cutting measures (like Argentina’s Javier Milei). He has also pledged to shrink the state and take control of the health system.

However, de la Espriella has received criticism over his past clients during his stint as criminal lawyer in Miami (US), where he represented controversial clients including a Colombian fraudster sentenced for running a multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme.

The issues that matter

Across Latin America, several countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Honduras have shifted to the right in recent elections. In Colombia, the June 21 vote is being seen as a referendum for Petro’s left-wing regime amid this rightward surge.

Petro’s four-year term has seen the economy grow and a significant increase in minimum wages since 2022, but record-high cocaine production and worsening violence levels owing to a rise in membership of armed groups have resulted in a substantial number of internally displaced citizens. Critics have pointed to this as a failure of the “total peace” strategy and said it allowed guerrilla groups to expand their control by exploiting ceasefires, but those in support argue that it has prevented loss of more lives.

Foreign policy is another sticking point, with US President Trump backing right-leaning candidates across the region. While Petro and Trump had initially shown a combative approach towards one another, matters de-escalated following a meeting at the White House in February this year. With Trump now having declared his support for de la Espriella, it remains difficult to predict whom undecided voters will go in a highly polarised election.