🇨🇴Colombia's Presidential Election//Recent Events+More
WELCOME TO THE LATEST ALBORADA NEWSLETTER OF 2026
Alborada is an independent voice on Latin American politics, media and culture. Since 2009 we have provided a progressive take on the region, offering perspectives rarely found in the mainstream. This newsletter shares our latest news and events with you.
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🇨🇴UNCERTAINTY OVER COLOMBIA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WINNER
Colombia’s presidential election second round runoff between far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and leftwing politician Iván Cepeda took place yesterday.
Iván Cepeda (left) and his rival Abelardo de la Espriella (right).
The first round on 31 May saw de la Espriella win with 43.7%, with Cepeda second with 40.9%. With no candidate reaching the 50% in the first round threshold it meant the the top two candidates faced each in yesterday’s decisive runoff.
The preliminary result from yesterday are disappointing for progressives: de la Espriella got 49.66% while the Cepeda (running for a similar Historic Pact coalition as current president Gustavo Petro) got 48.7% of the vote. Voter turnout was high at almost 64%. The difference of around 255,000 votes between the two candidates is narrow and significant. This is because this is a preliminary result with no legal standing until the vote scrutiny is completed. In the 2022 presidential election, some 390,000 were reallocated or seen to be invalid by the scrutiny. In recent parliamentary elections the Historic Pact gained 500,000 following the scrutiny. So it is perfectly possible that Cepeda’s vote could benefit in a similar way.
The Trump government in the US has been a vocal de la Espriella supporter and is already trying to cement his “victory”, as this post on X (Twitter) earlier today by the website Drop Site News notes:
The situation in Colombia is tense and if de la Espriella becomes Colombia’s new president, the struggle for peace and social justice in the country will have suffered a significant blow. Follow Drop Site News, Justice for Colombia, Progressive International and Anticonquista for the latest developments.
For some background my 2013 documentary The Colombia Connection explores Colombia’s armed and social conflict (that formally ended in 2016), and the US government’s historic role in supporting the violence.
Watch it here.
The film features an interview with Iván Cepeda, who also makes a brief appearance in Colombia: The Fight for Peace, a documentary I produced that came out in 2018. Watch this film below or here.
Click here to see more videos reports and documentaries about Colombia that I’ve worked on.
Tomorrow Tuesday 23 June the UK human rights organisation Justice for Colombia will host this important online event:
What's Next for Colombia? Analysing the Election Result
6pm London / 12pm Bogota. To register click here.
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🎟️RECENT EVENTS
Many thanks to everyone who attended recent sold out London screenings of the documentaries Mercedes Sosa: The Voice Of Latin America and Identity (Identidad)
We will share an audio recording of the Q&A I chaired with Rodrigo H. Vila, director of Mercedes Sosa: The Voice Of Latin America, in the next newsletter.
The film’s directors Florencia Santucho (left) and Rodrigo Vázquez-Salessi (centre). Q&A chair Abla Kandalaft (right). Credit: Simón Díaz Cuffin
Both films were screened as part of 50 Years of Argentina on Film, a programme of Argentinian films that ran from 8 May until 19 June at the Garden Cinema in London. The film covering five decades explored how Argentinian society has grappled with the aftermath of the military coup of 1976. I was delighted to help curate films for the season.
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Saludos,
Pablo Navarrete
Founder & Co-editor
Alborada/Latin America Uncovered
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