Abelardo de la Espriella was elected president of Colombia after defeating senator Iván Cepeda by a margin of 250,000 votes. He is scheduled to replace Gustavo Petro as president on August 7. The electorate for the recent presidential election numbered 41 million people.

De la Espriella, 47, has never held public office. He announced his candidacy in July of the previous year, stating he intended to "fight with an iron fist the corrupt, unpunished criminals and all those who threaten Colombia's existence." In his victory speech, he said he would respect the constitution and the rights of all Colombians. He also stated he draws inspiration from U.S. President Donald Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.

During his campaign, de la Espriella vowed to "disembowel" the left and promised to use lethal force against protesters. He said he would kill criminals like "rats and cockroaches." He pledged to shrink the state by 40%, withdraw Colombia from the UN, and extradite Gustavo Petro to the U.S. He also promised to build 10 maximum-security "mega-prisons," legalize civilian gun ownership, and "capture or kill" 10 major crime leaders within his first three months in office.

Before his presidential run, de la Espriella served as a lawyer for paramilitary leaders during demobilization talks in the early 2000s. He represented pastor Álvaro Gámez, who was accused of abusing female followers; Gámez was acquitted, though the case remains under review by the supreme court. De la Espriella also served as a lawyer for the head of a financial pyramid scheme allegedly used to launder drug-trafficking money and for Alex Saab, whom US authorities accuse of being the main financial frontman for Nicolás Maduro's regime in Venezuela. De la Espriella obtained U.S. citizenship in 2023 and also holds Italian citizenship.

Catalina Ruiz-Navarro, co-founder and editor of the feminist magazine Volcánicas, expressed concern. "It frightens me," Ruiz-Navarro said. "Despite Colombia's strong institutions, we're facing an institutional threat unlike anything we've experienced before." Ana Bejarano Ricaurte, a lawyer and co-director of the legal advocacy organization El Veinte, also stated her concerns. "We've never confronted a threat of this magnitude," Ricaurte said. "He has promised a regressive agenda in terms of civil rights and fundamental rights: an anti-abortion agenda, an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda … He has vowed to withdraw Colombia from the inter-American human rights system, which has been the guiding light for the protection of human rights here."

De la Espriella supports fossil fuel extraction, fracking, and a loosening of environmental licensing requirements. He was born in Bogotá and grew up in the department of Córdoba. His father was a former Liberal state congressman and lawyer who twice unsuccessfully sought election as governor. De la Espriella has published five books and recorded two albums of popular classics. Gustavo Petro was Colombia's first leftist president.