Frontrunner De la Espriella has won US President Donald Trump’s “complete and total endorsement” and hopes to ride a wave that has swept rightist candidates to power across Latin America.
The dual US-Colombian national, who calls himself “The Tiger,” won May’s first round vote promising to wage war on cartels and guerrilla groups.
Instead of focusing on security, Cepeda has appealed to progressives and the poor, who have benefited from a drop in poverty and a bump in wages in four years of leftist rule.
The 63-year-old philosopher-turned-senator, an architect of peace talks, cast his vote in Bogota.
“When we win, we are going to govern for the whole country and not just for one sector,” the candidate told the press.
Trump has suggested that if Cepeda wins, the future of Colombia’s ties with Washington would be uncertain, putting billions of dollars of aid in question.
