Colombian presidential candidate urges prosecutors to investigate alleged voter coercion

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella on Tuesday urged prosecutors to investigate whether rebel groups coerced citizens in remote municipalities into voting for governing party candidate Sen. Iván Cepeda during the May 31 first-round presidential election.

De la Espriella’s campaign issued a statement saying that Cepeda secured more than 70% of the vote across 109 municipalities with active illegal armed groups, reaching as high as 97% in some locations. Cepeda’s camp didn't immediately respond to the accusations.

Cepeda, an ally of President Gustavo Petro and a former member of Colombia's communist party, has acted as a mediator between Colombia’s government and Marxist rebels. In the first round of the election, he won around 41% of the overall vote, which had 14 candidates on the ballot.

“These results, on their own, do not constitute definitive proof of a crime,” De la Espriella’s campaign said, noting it had filed a complaint with prosecutors. “But they should oblige authorities to investigate if there were threats, pressures or mechanisms to coerce voters and alter their freedom.”

De la Espriella, a conservative lawyer who supports U.S. President Donald Trump and calls himself “The Tiger,” came out in front in the first round with 43.7% of the vote, followed by Cepeda, who garnered 40.9%. The candidates will face off again in a runoff election on June 21 that will decide who will lead Colombia during the next four years.

A European Union electoral observation mission said that it had received complaints from voters who said that they were pressured by “government officials and illegal armed groups” during the May election, but the mission didn't specify which candidate people had been pressured to vote for.

Security has become one of the top concerns for voters in Colombia, along with corruption and the state of the nation’s healthcare system.

The municipalities where Cepeda got a large portion of the votes are located along Colombia’s Pacific coast, an area of the country that tends to support the current government.

Under Petro, a former member of the now defunct M-19 rebel group, Colombia’s government has attempted to stage peace talks with the nation's remaining rebel groups, under a strategy known as “total peace.”

Analysts say rebel groups have used ceasefires granted to them by the government to strengthen their grip over rural communities, where they run illicit ventures such as cocaine labs, tax legal businesses and threaten civilians who stand in their way.

Cepeda has said during the campaign that he favors the continuation of negotiations with rebel groups, even if he would adjust some of the methods. De la Espriella has promised to cancel the talks and take a more confrontational approach to rebel groups that includes using airplanes to spray coca fields with herbicides.

Trump recently endorsed de la Espriella on Truth Social, praising the 47-year-old lawyer as a “Smart, Strong and Tough Leader” who would be “tremendously successful” in restoring “LAW AND ORDER!”

Petro replied to Trump’s endorsement with a post on X, writing that “freedom dies” when one country intervenes in another’s affairs.

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