Outgoing Colombian leftist President Gustavo Petro has claimed election fraud after provisional results of the presidential run-off showed his chosen candidate lost by a narrow margin.
In a barrage of posts on social media site
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Petro refused to recognize the results and called for a judicial investigation.
The president, who is barred by the constitution from running for a second term, is Colombia’s first leftist president and is at odds with the United States.
His government has been praised for reforms that increased social spending, raised the minimum wage and redistributed land to poor families. Mr Petro also severed ties with Israel over Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip and distanced himself from US President Donald Trump’s administration.
But critics said his refusal to accept the election results risked inciting political tensions and violence. Here’s what we know:
What will happen to the election results?
The first round of voting for the presidential election was held on May 31st. The two leading candidates, Abelardo de la Espriela of the right-wing Fatherland Movement and Sen. Ivan Cepeda of the ruling Historical Accord party, failed to secure more than 50% of the vote, leading to a run-off on Sunday.
Preliminary results released Monday by the National Registration Authority, which manages the vote count, showed Mr. de la Espriela narrowly winning 49.66% of the votes to Mr. Cepeda’s 48.7%.
This narrow margin accounted for less than 1% of the vote, making it one of Colombia’s closest elections.
Mr. de la Espriela, 47, who is backed by President Trump, is scheduled to take office on August 7. The criminal lawyer is a millionaire and has advocated for stronger security and anti-leftist policies. He also holds American nationality.
Mr. de la Espriela’s victory is part of a recent trend in Latin American countries electing far-right populist leaders who are pro-Trump. Argentina’s Javier Millay, Honduras’ Nasri “Tito” Asfura, El Salvador’s Nayib Boucle, and Costa Rica’s Laura Fernández Delgado all have close ties to the Trump administration.
Why is Petro alleging fraud?
In a series of posts, Petro accused X of voting fraud carried out with the support of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Petro said there was evidence that Form E-14, the official handwritten tally filled out by poll workers at each polling place, had been tampered with.
This form is a physical record of the number of votes cast and is intended to prevent election fraud. This is completed by hand and a digital scan is also uploaded to the National Register portal for public audit. If an error is found, the parties can request a recount.
Petro claimed that foreign actors accessed the National Registry’s website and altered voting data on some E-14 forms.
“Today we received evidence that the IP addresses of some servers in the National Register have changed,” he posted.
“This means that the software has been compromised and someone else has written the data of the polling stations and polling stations. The only entity in the world that can do that is the state of Israel,” Petro added, without providing evidence of Israel’s alleged involvement.
Petro said his party had called for a “technical audit” of voting software before the election and asked authorities to obtain the digital footprint of all documents sent digitally to avoid tampering. He claimed those requests were ignored.
The outgoing president shared a video that he claims shows a “deliberate” alteration of an E-14 form. He also claimed that the operation took place “from the Bautista brothers’ office.”
Who are the Bautista brothers?
Petro was referring to Thomas Gregg & Sons, an influential private logistics and security printing company that runs Colombia’s election infrastructure. Until recently, they also printed Colombian passports.
It is run by brothers Fernando Bautista Palacio and Camilo Bautista Palacio. The two were convicted of bank fraud in the United States in the 1980s.
Thomas Gregg & Sons, founded by his father Gregorio, has been contracted by the National Registrar’s Office to manage election logistics, primary vote tabulation and vote tabulation software for more than a decade.
In April, Petro accused the Bautista brothers of negotiating a deal with de la Espriera that would secure the presidential seat for a far-right candidate in exchange for re-entering the passport-printing deal.
At the time, Mr. de la Espriela refuted the claims and his lawyer threatened Mr. Petro with legal action.
What are the authorities saying?
Attorney General Gregorio Erjac dismissed the allegations, telling reporters there was “no evidence of fraud” with more than 99% of votes counted.
Meanwhile, Mr. de la Espriela has so far not responded directly to Mr. Petro.
Does de la Espriela have any ties to Israel?
Yes, de la Espriela has consistently voiced support for Israel, campaigned in Colombia’s Jewish community, made pro-Israel pledges, and said the government would “defend Judeo-Christian principles.”
He promised to reverse Petro’s 2024 decision to sever ties with Israel and to move the Colombian embassy to Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Mr. de la Espriera on Monday and said, “I look forward to working with you to strengthen the ties between Israel and Colombia.”
How did the US react?
In his post, Petro accused President Trump of interfering in the election and swaying voters by publicly endorsing candidates.
Trump endorsed de la Espriera on his Truth Social platform weeks before the runoff.
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also congratulated Mr. de la Espriera on his qualifying victory, with Mr. Trump taking credit for the far-right candidate’s victory.
“He came in 10th place. I supported him and he won the election. He called me last night and thanked me for supporting him,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
Mr. Rubio wrote to X: “The Trump Administration looks forward to working closely with the incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, combat illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen economic ties.”
Petro invited President Trump to make a statement on allegations of election fraud.
“I formally invite President Donald Trump to speak,” Petro wrote, adding that the US president was responsible for “supporting a candidate instead of the freedom of the Colombian people.”
What is the relationship between the United States and Colombia?
The two countries have close trade ties, but diplomatic relations are often strained over issues such as drug trafficking policies and relations with Israel.
But the relationship essentially collapsed under the Trump and Petro administrations.
Last January, Petro refused to allow U.S. migrant deportation planes to land in his country, saying in X that the U.S. “cannot treat Colombian immigrants like criminals.”
In October, the United States sanctioned Petro, his family and key government officials based on unproven allegations of involvement in drug trafficking.
In January, the US military abducted Venezuelan leftist President Nicolas Maduro from his home in Caracas after the Trump administration accused him of “narcoterrorism.”
