Colombia President Petro alleges algorithmic fraud in June election

President Gustavo Petro said he possesses evidence that the June 21 presidential election in Colombia was manipulated through “biased algorithms.” He claimed that a server in Los Angeles owned by the Bautista brothers’ firm Thomas Greg & Sons, which handled vote‑count logistics, was used to alter vote tallies in favor of far‑right candidate Abelardo de La Espriella. Petro alleged the algorithms replaced non‑voting census entries with repeat votes and that jurors abroad were fraudulently listed as residing in Colombia. He indicated irregularities occurred in several regions, including Antioquia, Norte de Santander, Medellín and Bogotá. Petro also accused the Israeli private‑intelligence firm BlackCube of supplying the compromised algorithms and linked a lobbying company, Balart, to a multi‑million‑dollar campaign to improve de La Espriella’s image and to influence U.S. President Donald Trump’s public stance. Petro framed the alleged manipulation as a breach of Colombia’s constitutional prohibition on foreign‑financed election interference and described it as the gravest threat to national sovereignty since the country’s colonial era.