Op-Ed
Colombia’s President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella speaks after receiving his official credential at the National Registry of Civil Status headquarters in Bogota on June 25, 2026. (Luis Acosta – AFP / Getty Images)
By Jair Peña Gómez July 3, 2026 at 11:00am
Abelardo de la Espriella’s victory in Colombia’s presidential election is nothing less than a triumph of the popular will against a suffocating state apparatus.
At a time when the political class had become a self-serving oligarchy, a complete outsider rewrote the rules.
The outgoing regime called him every name in the book — “paramilitary,” “fascist,” “mafioso.” De la Espriella, a lawyer and businessman with zero political experience, beat them at their own game.
He didn’t win in spite of being an outsider. He won because of it. He shattered the elite’s monopoly on power, and the first vote count made it plain: 49.7 percent for him, 48.7 percent for Iván Cepeda.
That margin is more than victory. It’s a verdict on the establishment.
This victory matters even more because of how it was won. Reports of “voto fusil” — voting at gunpoint — in regions run by FARC remnants, the ELN, and Nueva Marquetalia show an election held under the shadow of terror.
The regime said nothing. That silence condemns it. Colombians didn’t just vote for a new president. They voted against Marxist-Leninist guns pointed at the ballot box, and against the political project that gave those guns cover.
Abelardo de la Espriella’s historic win represents a critical pivot for a nation that has been wandering in the wilderness for the last four years. The first and most urgent task is to restore the foundations of economic liberty.
The numbers are brutal. According to the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, Colombia has experienced a dramatic fall from grace.
Four years ago we were “Moderately Free.” Today we’re “Mostly Unfree.” That’s a 29-place crash between 2022 and 2025. The nation has fallen from the 60th to the 89th spot.
The previous administration’s statist policies have generated profound uncertainty, undercutting the very basis of a free society. A country that cannot guarantee property rights or fiscal health cannot offer its citizens opportunity. De la Espriella’s mandate is to reverse this decline, to reduce the size of the state, and to allow the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of the Colombian people to flourish once more.
Furthermore, a nation cannot be free if its citizens are not safe.
The outgoing administration’s naive “Total Peace” policy has been a catastrophic failure. It allowed illegal armed groups not to demobilize, but to consolidate their power. As a result, cities like Cali, Popayán, and Mocoa now find themselves effectively under siege by terrorist guerrillas.
The state, which holds the monopoly on legitimate force, has abdicated its responsibility to protect its citizens. It is a moral and constitutional imperative to restore security. The new president’s pledge to adopt a “military crackdown” on drug trafficking, cartels, and guerrilla groups is not a display of savagery, but the very essence of a civilized state’s duty.
A free society is one where a citizen can travel from Barranquilla to Bogotá without the fear of being extorted or killed.
However, a true return to freedom does not begin and end with a “strong fist” against criminality. It requires the restoration of the delicate architecture of constitutional order.
This victory is a victory for the Constitution, for the independence of the judiciary, and for the separation of powers. It is a victory against the kind of executive overreach that has become customary in recent years. We must ensure that the National Electoral Council acts with absolute transparency, especially given the gravity of the charges of the “voto fusil” and the president’s own unfounded allegations of electoral fraud.
Freedom at home means nothing if we stand alone abroad. Colombia must return to the community of Western democracies and reclaim the alliances that once anchored our place in the world.
For too long, our foreign policy has been theater — cozying up to dictators, giving cover to terrorists, and mistaking slogans for strategy.
President Petro broke with Israel, embraced the regimes in Tehran and Havana, and likened the Jewish state to Nazi Germany while opening doors to Hezbollah and Hamas. In the process, he pushed Colombia away from the United States and the free nations that have been our partners for decades.
But Colombia is not a revolutionary outpost. Our roots are Judeo-Christian. Our interests lie with Israel, with America, and with the free world. Foreign policy should reflect who we are, not who we pretend to be on a stage.
De la Espriella’s victory was cheered by leaders like Donald Trump, Javier Milei, and José Antonio Kast for a reason: the world noticed. Colombia is stepping back into the ranks of civilized nations, where it belongs.
Finally, a functional democracy respects the opposition. The previous government failed catastrophically on this account.
We cannot forget the assassination of Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a tragic crime that may very well be a “crime of State.” The fact that his widow, María Claudia Tarazona, revealed that the prosecution is investigating this hypothesis is a stain on the honor of our Republic.
Abelardo de la Espriella has already dedicated his victory to the memory of Miguel Uribe Turbay, signaling that his government will be one of tolerance and respect for political adversaries.
We must have full guarantees for the opposition, a free press, and an independent judiciary. The persecution of political enemies must end.
This is not just an election. It is the beginning of a new era. “The Tiger” has roared. Colombia is taking its first steps to becoming, once again, a great, safe, and prosperous nation.
It is time to make Colombia free again.
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Jair Peña Gómez is a Colombian writer and commentator focused on politics, economics, and public affairs. He has participated in academic forums on governance, entrepreneurship, and economic policy in Latin America. He is currently based in Bogotá, Colombia.
