BARRANQUILLA, Colombia: A flamboyant US-backed lawyer who has never held public office narrowly won Colombia's presidential runoff on Sunday (Jun 21), swinging the country hard right with a promise to wage war against drug-running guerrilla groups.With almost all polling centres reporting, Abelardo de la Espr

June 21 (UPI) -- Abelardo De La Espriella, a far-right criminal defense lawyer endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump, claimed victory Sunday night in Colombia's presidential runoff election as preliminary results indicated he held the narrowest of leads over leftist Sen. Ivan Cepeda.

With almost all the votes counted, Abelardo de la Espriella held 49.66% of the vote versus left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda’s 48.70%.

Conservative political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella held a narrow lead Monday with almost all votes counted in Colombia's polarized presidential runoff, as the ruling party's progressiv

Abelardo de la Espriella, a conservative political outsider, has taken a narrow lead in Colombia's runoff election.

Pro-Trump Abelardo de la Espriella leads progressive Iván Cepeda in election focused on rising crime; right-wing candidate has pledged to renew Israel ties broken by outgoing president