Colombia’s next President: A Reckoning for Peace, Climate and Human Rights By Inés M. Pousadela Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved. -

Colombia’s next President: A Reckoning for Peace, Climate and Human Rights By Inés M. Pousadela MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 26 2026 (IPS) - On 21 June Colombians made their choice. By the narrowest of margins, Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right criminal lawyer who’s never held elected office, became president-elect. Climate activists, human rights defenders, Indigenous communities and peace advocates have the most to lose from the incoming government’s agenda. GlobalSouth News The election results follow the logic of a decade of deepening polarisation. Since the 2016 Peace Accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia began a contested and incomplete transition away from armed conflict, Colombian society has divided into two mutually hostile blocs. The election further revealed that no middle ground remains between them. The mainstream right is gone, its candidate receiving a humiliating 6.3 per cent of the first-round vote, and a new right, harsher and less constrained by institutional norms, has taken its place. https://www.ipsnews.net/2026/06/colombias-next-president-a-reckoning-for-peace-climate-and-human-rights/ Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved. -