Colombians Vote in Presidential Election for 2026-2030 Term
Cepeda, a sitting senator and the standard-bearer of the Historic Pact (Pacto Histórico), is widely regarded as the ideological heir to outgoing President Gustavo Petro and currently leads national opinion polls. The son of communist leader Manuel Cepeda Vargas — assassinated by paramilitary groups in 1994 — Cepeda spent stretches of his life in exile due to death threats targeting his family before later adopting reformist socialist politics. If elected, he has pledged to carry forward Petro's social reform agenda, wage war on corruption, narrow inequality, pursue institutional change, and advance peace through dialogue.
De la Espriella Promises 10 'Mega Prisons'
Lawyer and businessman Abelardo de la Espriella has made no secret of his admiration for El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, seeking to replicate the Salvadoran leader's iron-fisted security model on Colombian soil. His campaign's signature pledges include constructing 10 "mega prisons," dismantling the Petro administration's "Total Peace" policy, and deploying a hardline, military-driven strategy against drug trafficking and armed groups — all under the campaign slogan "Defenders of the Homeland."
De la Espriella's past client list has drawn scrutiny, notably his representation of Venezuelan businessman Alex Saab — recently extradited to the United States on money laundering and sanctions-related charges and reported to have close ties to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Ranking second in current polls, de la Espriella has held campaign rallies behind bulletproof glass, citing credible death threats against him.
Valencia Carries the Banner of Uribismo
Paloma Valencia, the candidate of the Democratic Center party helmed by former President Álvaro Uribe, is campaigning to restore the influential right-wing Uribismo movement to national power. A sharp critic of the current government's security posture, she has pledged to significantly boost defense spending and recruit 60,000 additional soldiers and police officers. Valencia has also championed a "Plan Colombia 2.0" modeled on historic US-Colombia counter-narcotics cooperation, alongside tax reductions and expanded investment in alternative energy.
A scion of one of Colombia's most storied political dynasties, Valencia is the granddaughter of former conservative President Guillermo León Valencia.
Former Antioquia Governor Sergio Fajardo and former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López are also in the race but have struggled to consolidate centrist support as voters increasingly gravitate toward more sharply defined political camps. The remaining field — including former ministers Daniel Palacios and Mauricio Lizcano, businessman Santiago Botero, lawyer Sondra Macollins, and former Colombian ambassador to London Roy Barreras — has yet to register a realistic path to victory in any current polling.
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