Colombians vote Sunday as peace battle turns violent

Colombians vote – Colombians cast ballots Sunday in a first-round presidential election that has shifted into a three-candidate showdown over how to confront a renewed surge of violence. The race pits a Petro ally promising to continue “total peace” with candidates backed by ha

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — On Friday afternoon in downtown Bogotá, Maria Eugenia bent over a pair of jeans she was sewing, stitching with the calm focus of someone trying to get through the week. Outside her shop, she carried a different kind of urgency: the need for force.

Colombians are casting ballots Sunday in the first round of the presidential election. a vote that has become less a debate about party platforms than a referendum on the country’s prospects for peace after decades of armed conflict. It comes 10 years after Colombia signed an historic peace pact with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. or FARC. an agreement that promised an end to a cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government.

Instead, violence has roared back since then, and the campaign has been marked by drone strikes and armed attacks. Last June, 39-year-old politician and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was fatally shot at a political rally. In a country where peace has long been part of the political ethos. the question of how to address the conflict is dividing the electorate again.

The election has 14 candidates, but it has largely narrowed into a three-horse race.

Senator Ivan Cepeda, a peace-builder and ally of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, has led the polls. He promises to carry on with Petro’s “total peace” initiative by negotiating with the country’s remaining rebel groups and signing new peace agreements in an effort to resolve the persistent crisis.

Cepeda and Petro have maintained strong support among many voters despite the fact that the peace plan has largely failed as criminals have taken advantage of ceasefires with the government. Support for Petro’s broader policies has also helped keep their base intact, including boosting the minimum wage.

Running against Cepeda are Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia, both of whom have vowed to come down on armed groups with a heavier hand.

De la Espriella. a bombastic lawyer known as “The Tiger. ” has gained traction in recent weeks by positioning himself as an outsider. He has argued for emulating the heavy-handed tactics used in El Salvador’s war on gangs—tactics that sharply reduced gang violence but also fueled accusations of human rights abuses.

Valencia is viewed as the political protege of Colombia’s former president and strongman Álvaro Uribe, who governed from 2002 to 2010 with strong support from the United States. Uribe’s government launched an offensive against FARC rebels that took a massive civilian toll.

Both de la Espriella and Valencia have touted their affinity for U.S. President Donald Trump. Their messaging aligns with Trump’s more aggressive stance toward Latin America in decades and with his pressure on countries such as Colombia. Ecuador and Mexico to more forcefully crack down on criminal groups.

A runoff would follow if no candidate wins at least 50% of the vote—something extremely rare in Colombia. If that threshold isn’t reached, the two top vote-getters would face a runoff in June.

In the streets around Bogotá, voters were split over what violence requires from the next government.

Maria Eugenia said she welcomed an all-out offensive on an expanding slate of criminal groups, regardless of the human cost. She approved of Petro’s pushes to improve the country’s medical infrastructure. but she still said she was voting for de la Espriella because violence in rural areas has gotten out of hand.

“Of course, whenever you come down with a heavy hand, there’s always going to be debate,” she said. “But some people are going to have to fall to clean up what needs to be cleaned.”

Outside her, 26-year-old Cristian Morales shook his head when the conversation turned that direction.

To Morales. the choice is not between peace and war—it’s between another attempt at breaking cycles of violence and switching to a different extreme that could deepen them. He said Petro’s peace plan has failed on many fronts. but he argued that making changes to it is better than swinging to an alternative.

Morales said he planned to vote for Cepeda. He pointed to the candidate’s push to protect Colombia’s biodiversity and expand access to education, describing bold promises to unravel the country’s deeply entrenched conflict as something that cannot be done in just four years.

“The solution to this conflict isn’t aggressive confrontations. It will only end in more bloodshed,” he said. “It’s so difficult because it’s either dialogue or arms, and an internal conflict isn’t good for anyone.”

The election’s hard edges show up in small moments like these: one voter measuring safety against consequences. another measuring it against whether any plan can actually hold for the long haul. As the ballots are cast Sunday. Colombia is deciding what kind of peace—if any—will be pursued next. and at what cost.

Colombia presidential election Gustavo Petro Ivan Cepeda Miguel Uribe Turbay FARC peace pact drone strikes Álvaro Uribe Donald Trump El Salvador gangs tactics total peace initiative