Colombia

Colombian senator Iván Cepeda refuses to recognize Abelardo de la Espriella as the new president unless he meets certain conditions. Cepeda demands de la Espriella renounce his U.S. citizenship, fearing conflicts of interest. He also wants clarity on whether de la Espriella is an "agent" of the U.S., given his past legal work.

Colombia wakes up to a sharp political turn to right as Abelardo de la Espriella's preliminary victory redraws the country's path on security, economy, and peace.

More than 10 million people are victims of the harshest acts of violence in Colombia's six decades of armed conflict. That's more than one in five Colombians. The memories of the conflict are still like open wounds. Now the question of how to best combat criminal violence is again at the heart of Colombia's presidential election.

Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella is urging prosecutors to investigate possible voter coercion by rebel groups in favor of governing party candidate Iván Cepeda. De la Espriella made the call for an inquiry on Tuesday. His campaign says Cepeda received more than 70% of votes in areas with active illegal armed groups during the May 31 election.

The upcoming Colombian presidential election between Sen. Iván Cepeda, an ally of President Gustavo Petro, and lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella is shaping up as a stark choice that could impact the future of the Amazon rainforest, fossil fuel development and the rights of Indigenous communities.

COMMENTARY Colombia should have shed its violent, centuries-old polarization when its civil war ended, but its political pendulum still swings far right and far left — especially in this presidential election.

Right-wing Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo De la Espriella was the attorney for Venezuela's alleged corruption mastermind, Colombian-born Alex Saab, when UM prof Bruce Bagley was recruited into Saab's money-laundering schemes. Did De la Espriella help facilitate the relationship?

Right-wing populist Abelardo De la Espriella surged to the front of the Colombian presidential election's first round on Sunday — capturing 90% of the South Florida expat vote with his iron fist-against-crime campaign — and is the front-runner for the June 21 runoff against left-wing rival, Senator Iván Cepeda.

Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia and Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil have never appeared on the same stage, but they are running similar campaigns, reading from similar scripts, and looking toward the same set of foreign role models.

The senator's letter was sent the same day the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that the impact of armed conflict on civilians in Colombia over the past year has been the worst in a decade.

Families of Colombians imprisoned in Venezuela gathered at a Colombia-Venezuela bridge hoping to appeal for the release of their relatives during a meeting that never happened. On Friday, relatives arrived at the crossing expecting to display signs requesting their relatives' release during a scheduled meeting between Colombia's president and Venezuela's acting president. But the governments abruptly canceled the meeting the night before.

President Donald Trump met on Tuesday with Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House for two hours. Trump said afterward that he'd previously clashed with Petro because he didn't know him, but during the talks "I thought he was terrific." Petro said the pair emerged "with a positive and optimistic view."