Bogota, Colombia – Colombia’s President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Tuesday suspended transition proceedings with the administration of current President Gustavo Petro.
Bitter rival Petro previously said it would not recognize the results of the June 21 runoff election, which de la Espriella won by less than 1% over Petro’s successor, Iván Cepeda.
“I have just instructed the Vice President-elect to immediately stop the transition process of a corrupt government whose term is ending, a government that seeks to destroy Colombia through its decisions and actions,” de la Espriella wrote to X.
Hours earlier, Petro repeated his claim that the election was fraudulent, without providing any evidence.
Petro wrote to
“The person who won the election by popular vote was Iván Cepeda. Abelardo’s victory was achieved using an algorithm from California, which was created by a private Israeli intelligence company.”
The transition process, known in Colombia as “empalme”, is intended to provide the outgoing government with up-to-date information on national issues to the incoming government.
De la Espriella, who is scheduled to take office on August 7, said Petro was planning a coup to stay in power and urged the military to respect the constitution.
“As president-elect, I ask you to fulfill your oath to protect the Constitution and democracy and not to follow any orders from Petro,” he said.
He also hinted at the possibility of persecuting his predecessor, who recently called Donald Trump to ask that he and his family be removed from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list.
“He is afraid because he knows I will make him pay for all his crimes within the law,” he said.
The United States has been accused of interfering in the Colombian election by sanctioning Petroleum, and Trump has publicly endorsed de la Espriella, who lives in Miami and has styled his campaign similarly to Trump’s.
Many in Colombia had hoped that after the election, de la Espriella would tone down his threats to prosecute Petro’s administration and take a more cautious approach to governing a divided electorate.
“Far from softening his position after winning the presidency, de la Espriella has solidified his original campaign narrative, which was based entirely on framing the current president as his main enemy,” said Gabriel Cifuentes, a political scientist and co-director of Latin America at Greystone Consulting Group.
Petro is also digging in his heels. He called for mass protests on July 20 and said on Tuesday that he would file a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the election results, citing “non-existent votes” that were “adjusted by algorithms created by private Israeli companies.”
“The suspension will remain in place until mutual respect is ensured and the use of expressions and actions inconsistent with the institutional nature of the process is stopped,” the current government said.
“This strategy goes beyond simple protests and aims to protect the outgoing administration from scrutiny and revive the push for a constitutional assembly,” Cifuentes said. “By destabilizing the new government, the opposition is already positioning the Pacto Histórico as a leading force in the upcoming regional elections.”
Some analysts are concerned about rising tensions between the two camps.
“The lack of will for dialogue between the two leaders is very damaging,” said Gabriel Clavizo, a political scientist and international relations expert. “Each is retreating further into his own corner.”
“The absence of mutual recognition creates an institutional vacuum that makes true governance of the country impossible.”
Featured Image: Screenshot of a video posted July 5 by Abelardo de la Espriella discussing the fight against “civil disobedience” in Colombia.
Image source: Abelardo de la Espriella via X.
