Anti-Cartel Candidate ‘The Tiger’ Echoes Trump and Bukele in Surprising Turn of Colombia Election

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Published on 01 June 2026

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Maldonado further emphasized that Colombia’s political direction has far-reaching implications. “What happens in Colombia influences the flow of drugs into American communities, the strength of transnational criminal networks, migration pressures, and the overall balance between democratic governments and criminalized regimes throughout the region,” she added.

As the nation heads towards the runoff, the choice between de la Espriella’s conservative approach and Cepeda’s leftist policies will likely shape the country’s future trajectory in dealing with these pressing issues.

An admirer of President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, won 43.7% of the vote Sunday, outperforming most polls and advancing to a runoff against left-wing Cepeda, the candidate backed by President Gustavo Petro. 

His campaign has centered on a hardline crackdown on criminal organizations, which he argues have flourished under Petro’s “Total Peace” policy.

In an interview with the Associated Press, de la Espriella pledged to open mega-prisons and take a far more aggressive approach toward criminal groups. “Criminals will either surrender or leave the country,” he said.

The vote comes as Colombia faces rising violence, expanding criminal organizations and growing criticism of President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” strategy, which sought negotiations with armed groups and criminal networks.

“Colombia heads into a June 21 runoff with armed groups controlling vast stretches of the country, a failed ‘Total Peace’ negotiating strategy leaving communities more exposed than when it began, and a Venezuelan refugee crisis that has overwhelmed the state’s already thin capacity to govern its own territory,” Daniel Swift, senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told News Agency.

Maldonado said Colombia’s election reflects a wider political shift taking place across Latin America.

“This election is part of a broader trend across Latin America, where voters are increasingly rejecting the failed promises of the left in favor of security, sovereignty and economic opportunity,” she said.

“We’ve seen it in Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Costa Rica and now increasingly in Colombia.”

Swift agreed the election results reflect a broader regional trend.

He said with de la Espriella outperforming “every poll, with security at the top of every voter’s mind — confirms that Colombia is part of a broader regional reckoning: Latin Americans are losing patience with governments that cannot provide security,” Swift said.

Maldonado said the results reflected mounting frustration with the country’s direction under Petro.

A supporter of Colombia’s presidential candidate for the Defensores de la Patria party, Abelardo de la Espriella, takes a selfie as she awaits his arrival to his last campaign rally in Barranquilla, Colombia, on May 23, 2026.  (Vanessa Romero/AFP via Getty Images)

“Years of growing insecurity, rising coca cultivation, expanding criminal organizations, and concessions to armed groups have left many Colombian people frustrated with the direction of the country,” she added.

The June 21 runoff is expected to focus heavily on security policy, organized crime and Colombia’s future relationship with the United States under the Trump administration. Maldonado argues it “offers Colombia an opportunity to begin reversing course and reestablish a principle that should have never been up for debate: criminal organizations should be confronted, not negotiated with.”