“How could this candidate who doesn’t even wear socks become our future president? » This quip, heard during a left-wing social evening in Bogota, says a lot about caste contempt for the outsider. A bit like Donald Trump whom he admires, during his first election, no one saw it coming, even less the classic right-wing candidate Paloma Valencia, eliminated in the first round. “He has no chance, he has no support, the blow will quickly die down”she had awkwardly predicted to the Tangwall Campagin, a few months before the presidential election.
At 47 years old, this criminal lawyer was not completely unknown to Colombians when he entered the arena last December… The one who boasts of having made his first appearance on the small screen at the age of 10 has been omnipresent in the media for around fifteen years. Comfortable in front of the camera, a skillful orator, knowing how to use self-deprecation, he is the right client for televised debates, when it comes to denouncing “narcoterrorists”there “corrupt left”etc.
“Neo-populist” tricks
With his colorful floral shirts and his improvised salsa moves, Abelardo is the candidate for Mr. Everyman. In just six months of campaigning, he built an anti-system image thanks to a few tricks borrowed from his Latin American neighbors, whom his enemies consider “neo-populists”. For many observers, the one who calls himself “the Tiger”for his lively and aggressive side, recalls the Argentinian lion, Javier Milei “El León” : same provocative tone, same disruptive style which appeals to popular classes and young people. Basically, he stole his famous chainsaw, promising to reduce the state apparatus by 40%. Moreover, many Argentine advisors, close to President Milei, gravitate around him, such as the influencer Agustin Laje and his millions of followers, the main architect of the South American right-wing counterculture. A recent YouTube video – where we can see the two close friends debating – has already accumulated more than 200,000 views in just a few weeks. “Agustin, you know how the devil is capable of anything, even of organizing a massive fraud”worries the latter, addressing him informally.
On the physical side, he especially resembles Nayib Bukele, the Salvadoran president, with whom he shares a finely trimmed beard which indirectly reminds us of the Señoritos, “son of the upper class” for some, the elegant heroes of independence for others… Incidentally, he wants to take inspiration from the Bukele method against insecurity, by promising the construction of ten high-security mega-prisons to permanently lock up all criminals and cartel leaders…
He wants to be inspired by the Bukele method against
insecurity
Starting from nothing, a bit like his Latino references, the business lawyer, who heads a firm of more than 300 people, completely self-financed his electoral campaign, reimbursing himself in part through merchandising. Where his rival Ivan Cepeda offers caps bearing his name at will, his staff sells them at discount prices. An outstanding communicator, the leader of the Defenders of the Fatherland movement regularly appeared wearing the yellow jersey of the national football team. A good omen, as the selection began its 2026 World Cup by crushing the small team from Uzbekistan 3-0. In the country of Egan Bernal, the great Colombian winner of the 2019 Tour de France, yellow is not only the color of Colombia but also that of the winner. “This is the first time that there is a true patriotic outsider in Colombia”likes to repeat the one who has not assumed any political mandate, but knows power and its institutions well thanks, precisely, to his long career as a lawyer.
After claiming to be an atheist for a long time, Abelardo de la Espriella finally converted to Catholicism, the country’s first religion, after a family bereavement. Today, facing multiple death threats, he often presents himself to the press with a crucifix in his hand. “I’m not perfect, I’m human. But I’m the candidate of good against evil (…) I present myself alone in the face of caste, by the grace of God”he said during a recent meeting. Originally from the Cordoba region, one of the most religious and socially conservative in Colombia, Abelardo comes from a family of typically North Caribbean ranchers.
“He is an extraordinarily intelligent, lively and charismatic man. I often meet his mother-in-law at mass, they are pious people”rejoices with the Tangwall Campagin Ana Luz Bedoya, a right-wing elected official from the Cordoba region, where the outgoing left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, also comes from. His image as a father of four children allowed him to appeal to a conservative electorate confused by the progressive slippage of the right “to be able”.
On a crusade against George Soros
“He went on a crusade against the influence of George Soros in Colombia, who represents everything he hates: the globalist, progressive elite, who wield the agenda of open borders, woke culture, gender theory… Soros has bought a lot of support in Colombian political circles, particularly on the classic right”estimates political scientist Fernando Orjuela Galeano to the Tangwall Campagin.
A right of power that candidate Abelardo today despises, although a great admirer of one of its main figures, ex-president Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010), founder of the Democratic Center, long considered an ultraconservative by his Venezuelan neighbors, Hugo Chavez or ex-president Nicolas Maduro, captured last January. Finally, the main advantage of ” Tiger “ is perhaps his opponent Ivan Cepeda, a mixed personality, even if slightly ahead in the polls. The radicalization of its coalition (the Historic Pact) could have a pushback effect this Sunday, in a country weakened by sixty years of revolutionary guerrilla warfare and the fear of seeing it become a new authoritarian and ruined Venezuela.
