In the first round of Colombia's 2026 presidential election on May 31, no candidate secured a majority, triggering a runoff. Right-wing outsider and lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella led with approximately 43.7–44% of the vote, outperforming expectations. Left-wing Senator Iván Cepeda, backed by outgoing President Gustavo Petro, placed second with around 40.9–41%. The contest saw high turnout — the highest in recent history for a first round — and centered on security, crime, and drug policy. International observers described the voting as generally orderly and transparent, despite some pre-election violence and political tensions.

In yesterday’s runoff election between the two candidates, President Gustavo Petro tweeted: “With the same data from the registry office, the pre-count result at this moment is 49.3% for Abelardo and 49% for Cepeda. Neither can be proclaimed president.”

Petro further claimed there were software malfunctions during the counting process, stating: “Well, today we have evidence of a change in IP addresses of several servers of the National Registry. This means that the software was compromised and others wrote data for polling stations and voting posts.”

Journalist Max Blumenthal provided further context on the situation.

The Bautista brothers are convicted fraudsters who own the private off-shore company that manages Colombia's voting software

Their company botched Colombian elections in 2014 and 2022, when 400,000 votes for Petro's party went missing

Before any official tally, Trump and… https://t.co/DDxgXtxGOt pic.twitter.com/EMPrNWlrTt

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) June 22, 2026

We have previously covered how Colombia, under pro-U.S. governments, maintained deep ties with Israel — in fact, the two countries were mercenary allies. It is also no secret that Gustavo Petro has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide and maintains a firm anti-Israel stance.

Please read our classic two-part investigation into the deep ties between Israel and Colombia and come to your own conclusion

• Israel participated in the systematic murder of the Patriotic Union in Colombia
• Israel has provided defense and surveillance equipment to Colombia for years.

[ARTICLE Historic.ly

Israel & Colombia: Mercenary Allies

The systematic murder of the Patriotic Union remains one of the most extreme cases of political violence in Latin America — with new evidence pointing to top Israeli operatives.

by Dan Cohen 11 Jun 2021](https://historic.ly/...)

Part 2

[ARTICLE Historic.ly

Israel & Colombia: Mercenary Allies (Part 2)

Continuation of the investigation into Israeli involvement in Colombia’s political violence and the extermination of the Patriotic Union.

by Dan Cohen Historic.ly](https://historic.ly/israelcolombia2/)

Given the deep forty year ties to Israel's intelligence, are there still members of the intelligence community in Colombia who maintain those ties? If so, would they be willing to interfere in an election to bring about a candidate who is more pro-Isreal?

As of now, neither candidate has conceded the election, and Ivan Cepeda has demanded further investigation into the process. Protesters are out in full force demanding a fair investigation and a fair election. There is widespread accusations of election fraud and ballot stuffing.

But, one has to wonder, if Israel indeed interfered in these elections to get a candidate that is more align with their goals.

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