Presidential contender Ivan Cepeda has formally acknowledged the victory of his opponent, Abelardo de la Espriella.
Bogota, Colombia – Following a closely contested run-off election, Colombian presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda officially conceded defeat to right-wing populist Abelardo de la Espriella on Wednesday morning.
Although Cepeda had previously acknowledged the legitimacy of Sunday’s preliminary results—which showed de la Espriella leading by less than one percent—he had insisted on waiting for the final legal scrutiny before formally accepting the outcome.
“I have decided to accept the result of this process, which indicates that Abelardo de la Espriella is the new president of the Republic,” Cepeda stated during a livestreamed address.
While the verification process is still underway, the National Registry confirmed that the preliminary count was 99.997 percent accurate after municipal judicial reviews. The results are now moving toward departmental and national verification.
The Cepeda campaign had expressed significant concerns regarding the integrity of the process. President Gustavo Petro, a staunch supporter of the leftist candidate, had openly alleged foreign interference and electoral fraud both before and after the vote.
“Electoral manipulation has been proven; I cannot say for certain that what has been uncovered guarantees an electoral victory [for Cepeda], but it is a fact,” Petro posted on Monday.
The president has spent months warning of flaws in the vote-counting software and engaging in public disputes with the National Registry. This skepticism stems largely from the 2022 legislative elections, where his Historic Pact coalition recovered approximately 500,000 votes during the final scrutiny.
This historical precedent led Petro and Cepeda’s supporters to hope that the 250,000-vote gap between Cepeda and de la Espriella could be bridged. However, the National Registry noted high accuracy levels in the March legislative elections and the first presidential round on May 31.
Petro further claimed that the result was compromised by U.S. interference, noting that President Donald Trump’s endorsement of de la Espriella departed from traditional diplomatic norms. “President Donald Trump’s direct intervention nullifies the elections in Colombia,” Petro wrote on X.
Cepeda’s decision to concede suggests a growing divide between him and the president, who founded the Historic Pact movement.
“This suggests some sort of schism between Petro and Cepeda. While Petro’s term is sunsetting, Cepeda will likely become the leader of the opposition,” observed Sergio Guzman, director of Colombia Risk Analysis.
Cepeda, who is now poised to lead the Historic Pact in the Senate, adopted a diplomatic tone during his announcement: “I am doing this as an act of democratic responsibility, to contribute to harmony, peace and dialogue among Colombians.”