Violence‑Driven Campaign Turns Colombia’s Presidential Race into a Battlefield

Today’s presidential showdown in Colombia is being played out far from the ballot boxes – in the villages, towns, and border zones where a resurgence of violent armed groups is pushing people into exile, bomb‑battered roads and a street‑wide climate of fear.

Edilma Martinez Flores, a displaced mother from the outskirts of Cali, told us that her brother was murdered in front of his children for not paying an extortion fee. The aunt’s story is not isolated. Over ten thousand families fled in 2025 as the ELN and FARC dissidents opened new front lines along the Venezuela‑Colombia border, dropping a net of bombs on crucial transport routes.

In the middle of this violence, the electorate faces a stark choice. Abelardo de la Espriella – a businessman, law‑and‑order crusader and a Trump‑backed outsider – promises hard‑line security: 10 mega‑prisons, a military crackdown and “no peace talks left”. He describes himself as a champion who will fight drug traffickers and guerrillas “with the balls of a true warrior”.

Opposite him sits Senator Iván Cepeda, a left‑wing politician closely linked to President Gustavo Petro’s peace mandate. Cepeda wants a negotiated approach – a “total peace” strategy that balances repression of armed groups with extensive social programmes to tackle poverty, inequality and the political vacuum in former FARC territories.

Thanks to a steep rise in forced displacement – a 300 % jump between 2024 and 2025 – the debate extends beyond rhetoric. The government adviser for peace, Isabelita Mercado Pineda, argues that “the strategy’s carrot offers no stick”, leaving criminal gangs with too much incentive to expand. Meanwhile, the public is divided: youth enthusiasm favours Cepeda’s comprehensive plan to tackle root causes, while many feel the safety net of law and order is required immediately.

With Trump's endorsement adding foreign‑political fuel to de la Espriella’s candidacy, the campaign has become more charged. Recent polls show a slender lead for de la Espriella in the first round, but the nation remains deeply split as the final vote approaches.

Members of the “Salvadores de la Patria” movement chant “Súbale la bomba” as de la Espriella rallies in Buga, while senators promote peaceful negotiations for the leftist candidate. Both sides gather support under different flags: de la Espriella in his signature Colombian football shirt and Cepeda in his symbol of cooperation.

For Colombia, the outcome of this election will shape a future that could either rollback or dramatically extend a decades‑long conflict. In the streets of Bogotá, the sound of the World Cup victory still echoes as voters decide between two very different paths to security and development.