The Daily Journal — Presidential candidate Abelardo De la Espriella turned the votes of Colombians living abroad into “one of the main pillars of his victory,” according to El Colombiano, which reviewed the map of second-round election results outside Colombia.
In Venezuela, De la Espriella secured 19,682 votes (79.67%), compared to 4,911 votes (19.88%) for Iván Cepeda, the Historic Pact candidate.
With 100% of the preliminary vote count processed, the figures show that support for De la Espriella in Venezuela not only remained overwhelming but also grew significantly compared to the first round of the presidential election.
During the first round, the attorney received 14,313 votes (66.26%), while Cepeda garnered 4,352 votes (20.14%). Following Sunday’s runoff election, De la Espriella added 5,369 more votes in “the country of Chavismo,” El Colombiano reported.
Overall results and the weight of the United States
Although his victory in Venezuela marked a political milestone by defying expectations on the left, De la Espriella drew his strongest numerical support from the United States, where he received nearly half of all his international votes.
With 100% of the 3,670 polling stations included in the preliminary count, the Barranquilla-born candidate accumulated 390,949 votes, while Iván Cepeda reached 213,140 votes.
In contrast to the right-wing victories in the United States and Venezuela, voting in Spain remained highly competitive. Cepeda held a narrow lead with 66,945 votes (49.84%), compared to 65,426 votes (48.71%) for De la Espriella.
With information from El Colombiano.
