Right-wing outsider narrowly wins Colombian presidency

A flamboyant US-backed lawyer who has never held public office has narrowly won Colombia's presidential runoff, swinging the country hard to the right on a promise to wage war against drug-running guerrilla groups.

With more than 99 percent of polling centers reporting, Abelardo de la Espriella had 49.65 percent of the vote, an unassailable lead over his rival, left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda who trailed at 48.70 percent, according to official results.

In Bogota, Mr De la Espriella supporters waved flags and blew horns as the results trickled in.

Only a few hundred thousand votes separated the two candidates after a hyper-fractious campaign that was marred by guerrilla bomb attacks, hundreds of threats against candidates, and the murder of a leading conservative presidential hopeful.

In a victory speech in Barranquilla, Mr de la Espriella said he would usher in a "new era" for the country, but he also sounded a conciliatory tone.

"Mine will be an absolutely democratic government and a guarantor of freedom and institutional order," he said.

"I will be president for all Colombians."

The 47-year-old's victory is likely to improve strained relations with Washington - which has provided the South American nation with billions of dollars in military aid - and to test the country's fragile peace process.

Mr De la Espriella had won US President Donald Trump's "complete and total endorsement", and his victory extends a wave of rightist candidates who have swept to power across Latin America.

He said he had ‌spoken ⁠with Mr Trump, who offered his congratulations.

During the campaign, the dual US-Colombian national, who calls himself "The Tiger", said that if elected he would immediately end peace talks with dissident groups and launch a 90-day campaign of US-backed airstrikes against them.