Ivan Cepeda calls for end to violence as US-backed 'El Tigre' wins Colombia presidential runoff

Colombia’s defeated leftist presidential candidate has called for calm and distanced himself from post-election violence following his hard-right rival’s victory.

“I wish to make a very cordial appeal for composure and calm,” said defeated leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda, stressing he had not called for violent demonstrations.

Any protests, he said, should “remain strictly within the bounds of tranquility and peaceful mobilisation.”

White House-backed lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella won Sunday’s presidential runoff by less than a percentage point, marking the end of Colombia’s first-ever leftist government and a return to right-wing rule.

The razor-thin results prompted upheaval in the major cities of Bogota and Cali, where demonstrators clashed with riot police and started fires on Sunday night.

With almost all the votes counted, De la Espriella, who calls himself “The Tiger or El Tigre” held 49.66 percent of the vote versus Cepeda’s 48.70 percent.

With about a quarter of a million votes separating the two, the left-wing senator has so far stopped short of conceding defeat, saying the initial results must first be cross-checked.

A definitive tally is expected on Wednesday.

But the atmosphere remains tense after a deeply polarizing election campaign.

In Colombia’s third-largest city, Cali, protesters burned American flags and clashed with riot police, some wielding steel bars as officers fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

There was also unrest in the capital Bogota, where demonstrators burned tires and hurled bricks at police.