BOGOTA — A lawyer and businessman who had never held political office before last year has quickly become the leading candidate to become Colombia’s next president, riding a wave of support for his tough stance on crime, smaller government, and a return to oil exploration.
Abelardo De La Espriella, known among his supporters as “The Tiger,” has positioned himself as an outsider who can fix Colombia’s struggling economy and bring order to a nation troubled by illegal armed groups and drug trafficking.
“I will dare to do what needs to be done within the framework of the Constitution and the law to save and rebuild Colombia,” De La Espriella told Reuters in a February interview. “It requires character, passion, courage, and determination, and I am the tiger for that.”
De La Espriella built momentum throughout the early part of the year with his hardline rhetoric, winning the first round of voting in late May with 43.7% of the vote. He has led every major poll ahead of Sunday’s runoff election against leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda.
The two candidates represent sharply different visions for the country’s future. Cepeda has pledged to continue and expand the economic and social reforms of current leftist President Gustavo Petro, while also pursuing peace negotiations with armed groups that have waged conflict against the Colombian state for decades.
De La Espriella holds Petro responsible for Colombia’s economic troubles and security problems. He has promised to shrink the size of the government by 40%, expand the tax base, and lower corporate taxes in order to stimulate private-sector job creation.
He also wants to resume oil exploration and permit fracking, with the goal of nearly doubling oil output to 1.3 million barrels per day.
“Colombia is going through its darkest hours,” De La Espriella said to Reuters. “At the end of the day, it’s not a battle between (Petro’s) heir apparent Ivan Cepeda and me, it’s a battle between totalitarianism and democracy, between the past and the future, between statism and economic freedom.”
De La Espriella’s business interests span a wide range of industries, including wine, rum, clothing, and real estate. However, an investigation by the Colombian journalism outlet La Silla Vacia found that many of those businesses have been dissolved, carry debt, and lost money in 2024, with his law practice being his most financially successful venture.
The candidate says he is funding his campaign and his “Defenders of the Homeland” movement entirely on his own, without backing from political parties or business interests. Reuters was unable to independently confirm that claim.
De La Espriella, who is 47 years old, frequently uses a military-style salute at campaign events and in advertisements, despite having no military service record. He is often seen wearing luxury watches and designer sunglasses and sporting a carefully maintained beard — an image that has drawn comparisons to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who has famously called himself the “world’s coolest dictator.”
Bukele’s government implemented strict security crackdowns and built large-scale detention facilities, driving El Salvador’s crime rates to some of the lowest in Central America. More than 90,000 people have been detained under his policies, drawing sharp criticism from human rights organizations.
De La Espriella has denied he is copying Bukele’s approach, but he has proposed building 10 large-scale prisons in Colombia.
“In my government there will be no peace processes. Any bandit who does not surrender will be killed, as is the law,” he stated. “And if they do surrender, they will have to be imprisoned in a real jail.”
The candidate has also faced scrutiny over his legal career, including his past representation of Alex Saab, who faces charges in the United States alleging he laundered money on behalf of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. De La Espriella has also represented clients connected to corruption cases, financial crimes, and right-wing paramilitary groups. He maintains that his work as an attorney does not make him complicit in any wrongdoing.
A married father of four, De La Espriella grew up in the Caribbean city of Monteria and is known as an enthusiastic performer of vallenato, the traditional folk music of that region.
