US and other countries urge orderly power transfer in Colombia

The United States and several Latin American countries on Friday urged Colombia’s authorities to uphold the constitution and ensure an orderly transfer of power after the defeat of the left-wing candidate from outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s party in May elections.

“We issue a firm appeal to all Colombian authorities to act in strict adherence to the Constitution, the law and democratic principles,” a joint statement said.

In addition to the US, the signatories include Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador as well as other states in Latin America and the Caribbean that are politically close to US President Donald Trump.

The governments said they viewed with “deep concern” recent statements and actions that, without sufficient evidence, cast doubt on the integrity of Colombia’s electoral process and create uncertainty about the institutional transition.

At the same time, the signatories stressed that only the will of voters officially determined by the competent electoral authorities gives state power democratic legitimacy. They rejected attempts to delegitimize or obstruct the officially announced election result or the transition process.

Petro does not recognize his right-wing successor’s victory

Right-wing politician Abelardo de la Espriella won the May 31 presidential election, defeating Ivan Cepeda of Petro’s Historic Pact party. But the outgoing president, who was barred from running again under Columbia’s constitutional ban on presidential re-election, has questioned the election outcome, alleging electoral fraud. De la Espriella then suspended the formal transition process.

Petro later announced he would hand over power on August 6 but continued not to recognize the victory of de la Espriella, who accuses Petro’s left-wing camp of attempting a coup.

De la Espriella, who was backed by Trump, received around 49.6% of the vote, with Cepeda pulling in around 48.7%.