Colombia elects U.S. citizen Abelardo de la Espriella amid interference allegations

Colombia has elected Abelardo de la Espriella, a multimillionaire and U.S. citizen, as its new president following a narrow victory of less than 1% in the June elections. De la Espriella, a former Miami-based lawyer, has proposed adopting the U.S. dollar as Colombia’s official currency and has advocated for increased U.S. military presence in the country.

Former President Gustavo Petro has formally accused the United States and Israel of interfering in the election process. Petro claims the Colombian government has gathered evidence suggesting that American and Israeli technology firms were involved in manipulating the results. Specifically, the Israeli firm BlackCore has been named in allegations of election interference, a claim that has also drawn attention from the French government.