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Conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella will become Colombia's next president after his progressive rival Iván Cepeda conceded defeat on Wednesday, ending a contest decided by less than one percentage point.
The result draws a definitive close to the leftist governance of outgoing President Gustavo Petro and sets Colombia toward a fundamentally different policy orientation on security, energy, and drugs beginning August 7.
A Disputed Concession That Ends an Era Cepeda's acknowledgment of defeat came days after he initially refused to accept preliminary results showing de la Espriella as the apparent winner.
In a nationally televised address, the Senate member stated he was accepting the outcome "as an act of democratic responsibility," while simultaneously lodging serious allegations of foreign interference by the United States government and specifically by President Donald Trump, whose endorsement of de la Espriella was public and vocal.
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