Colombia's hard-right presidential frontrunner on Tuesday promised much closer ties with the United States after receiving the backing of President Donald Trump.
Abelardo de la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer campaigning as a tough-on-crime outsider, said relations with Washington would be "like never before" if he defeats leftist senator Ivan Cepeda in a June 21 run-off.
De la Espriella was the surprise winner of the first round of the presidential election on Sunday, held against the backdrop of a surge in drug-related guerrilla violence.
He garnered more than 43 per cent – compared with 41 per cent for Cepeda – with the law-and-order platform that has propelled right-wingers to power across Latin America.
The third-placed candidate Paloma Valencia, a conservative, has thrown her support behind the right-wing showman, putting him in pole position to become the next president of one of Washington's closest South American allies.
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Writing on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump described the results of the election as "very important to the future of Colombia and its relationship to the United States."
Citing De la Espriella's "tremendous accomplishments in life, and his political support for me, personally," Trump gave the self-styled Colombian "Tiger" his "Complete and Total Endorsement."
Trump had a combustible relationship with outgoing left-wing President Gustavo Petro during his first year back in the White House.
The pair traded blows on social media over migration and Trump's campaign of deadly strikes on suspected drug boats operating out of Latin America.
"When one country intervenes in the decisions of another country, freedom dies," Petro wrote on Tuesday in response to Trump's endorsement.
"I invite all of Colombia to vote in complete freedom."
Colombia's election: Meeting the presidential contenders
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Trump has derided the outspoken Petro as a "drug leader" and imposed sanctions on him, but the two patched up relations during a visit by Petro to the White House in February.
Cepeda has promised to continue Petro's legacy of pursuing dialogue with armed groups, including drug traffickers, and reducing inequality.
Also on Tuesday, De la Espriella was ordered by a Bogota judge to apologise within 48 hours for purportedly sexist comments he made in a radio interview last month.
In the interview, clips of which have gone viral on social media, De la Espriella showed the reporter "an intimate photo" in a manner that suggested "explicit sexual innuendo", the ruling said.
The reporter in question said on X that De la Espriella had shown her a "complete lack of respect". He apologised in a reply, saying it was "humour".
A father of four with close ties to evangelical preachers, he has been criticised for a series of remarks deemed homophobic or sexist on the campaign trail.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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