Celebrity lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella unexpectedly topped the first round of Colombia’s presidential vote, setting up another highly polarized Latin American election.
The conservative outsider is in a strong position to become the nation’s next president when he faces leftist Sen. Ivan Cepeda, an ally of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in a June 21 runoff.
De la Espriella had 43.7% of the vote with about 99.9% of ballots counted, according to official results. Cepeda sat in second place with 40.9%. Another conservative hopeful, Sen. Paloma Valencia, was in distant third with 6.9%. She pledged her support to de la Espriella in a speech after the vote.
