On a historic election day that keeps both Colombia and the immigrant community in the United States in suspense, far-right criminal lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella is emerging as the new elected president of the South American country.

The candidate of the radical right-wing movement Defensores de la Patria proclaimed himself president-elect after the preliminary count of the second round placed him with an advantage of less than one percentage point over the leftist senator Iván Cepeda.

With 99.91% of the tables informed, De la Espriella obtained 12.95 million votes, equivalent to 49.65% of the total, while Cepeda reached 12.70 million votes, corresponding to 48.70%. The difference of just over 248,000 votes made the race the closest recorded in a Colombian presidential second round.

Although the preliminary results favor the conservative leader, the electoral authorities insisted that the final result will depend on the official scrutiny, a process that can last for several days and in which the voting records and the claims presented by the campaigns will be reviewed.

De la Espriella celebrated the result on his social networks and assured that the country “won its most important match.” In addition, he highlighted the importance of strengthening the bilateral relationship with the United States.

“To win the future and solve Colombia's problems we need to establish a very close alliance with the United States,” said the politician in a message released shortly after the preliminary count was known.

The United States reacts quickly to the result

The reaction from Washington did not take long to arrive. Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly congratulated De la Espriella and expressed the US administration's interest in strengthening cooperation with the next Colombian government.

According to Rubio, Washington hopes to work with the future administration in areas such as regional security, economic growth and immigration control.

“The Trump Administration looks forward to working closely with your incoming administration to promote regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen our economic ties,” the official wrote.

For his part, US President Donald Trump, who during the campaign publicly expressed his support for De la Espriella, reportedly spoke by telephone with the conservative candidate after the preliminary results were known. The candidate himself assured that he received recognition from Trump during that call and reiterated his intention to strengthen cooperation between both countries.

The electoral authority asks for calm while the counting begins

Given the narrowness of the result, the national registrar, Hernán Penagos, called on citizens to maintain tranquility and trust in the institutional mechanisms provided for by Colombian legislation. Penagos recalled that the pre-count released on election night is informative and that the official result will emerge from the scrutiny, a process that will be carried out by judges, notaries and electoral authorities.

As explained, nearly 860,000 voting jurors participated in the election day, while representatives of both campaigns had access to tools to verify the results table by table.

The first phase of the scrutiny began immediately after the polls closed and includes the review of the minutes in the country's municipalities. Subsequently, the departmental scrutiny will be carried out and, finally, the national scrutiny that will allow the official proclamation of the next president.

Cepeda recognizes the preliminary result, but announces challenges

Although he recognized the result released by the electoral authorities, Iván Cepeda affirmed that his campaign will use all available legal resources to review thousands of voting stations. The candidate of the ruling Historical Pact maintained that the margin of difference is extraordinarily small and justified the decision to challenge approximately 33,000 tables during the scrutiny.

“We have reached this last instance with the narrowest difference recorded in a presidential second round,” the senator said before his followers in Bogotá.

Cepeda insisted that his movement will respect the democratic framework and abide by the decisions of the electoral authorities, although he warned that he will carefully monitor each stage of the review of the results. Likewise, he promised to defend the social programs promoted during the administration of President Gustavo Petro and assured that the left will continue to actively participate in the political life of the country.

The high citizen participation, which reached 63.57%, was considered by both sectors as a sign of democratic strength. However, Colombia's immediate political future will now depend on official scrutiny, a process that will determine whether De la Espriella's tight lead is maintained and confirms his arrival at the Casa de Nariño on August 7.