{"id":1730,"date":"2026-08-04T04:30:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asianewscast.com\/2026\/08\/04\/colombias-petro-repeats-vote-fraud-claims-days-before-handing-over-power\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T04:30:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:30:06","slug":"colombias-petro-repeats-vote-fraud-claims-days-before-handing-over-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=1730","title":{"rendered":"Colombia\u2019s Petro repeats vote fraud claims days before handing over power"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colombia\u2019s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has repeated allegations that June\u2019s presidential election was rigged, rejecting the legitimacy of his right-wing successor, Abelardo de la Espriella.<\/p>\n

Speaking before journalists in Bogota on Monday, the left-wing Petro claimed that programmers had altered thousands of tally sheets after counts were transmitted to the national election agency.<\/p>\n

He alleged that the election was \u201cobscure\u201d and had been manipulated by foreign powers, and that metadata associated with vote tallies was not made available for review.<\/p>\n

Colombia\u2019s electoral authorities and international observers have rejected the fraud claims. Election officials declared in late June that de la Espriella, a conservative with a background in law, had defeated Petro\u2019s ally Ivan Cepeda by 250,000 votes.<\/p>\n

De la Espriella is due to be sworn in before Congress on Friday. Some analysts say the allegations could weaken his standing with some voters and deepen Colombia\u2019s political polarisation.<\/p>\n

Petro, a former rebel fighter who in 2022 became the country\u2019s first socialist president, is barred from a second term by the Colombian constitution and has little ability to stop the transition of power after electoral judges certified the results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are facing a profound institutional problem,\u201d Petro said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s the inauguration of an illegitimate president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petro\u2019s final months in office were marked by repeated clashes with US President Donald Trump, whose administration has courted Latin America\u2019s right and pressured its left-wing governments.<\/p>\n

In October, Trump called Petro an \u201cillegal drug leader\u201d and announced an end to US payments to Colombia. Petro hit back by saying Trump was \u201crude and ignorant about Colombia\u201d.<\/p>\n

In January, after US forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Trump was asked whether he would order a military operation against Colombia. The US president responded, \u201cSounds good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weeks later, US prosecutors began a probe into potential links between Petro and drug traffickers in the course of his 2022 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

Petro said on Monday that he fears being \u201cextracted\u201d from Colombia once he becomes an opposition leader. He has called for protests and for rural areas to form \u201cliberation guards\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been told to behave well,\u201d Petro said. \u201cBut as a democrat, I cannot accept this electoral fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andres Macias, a professor of political science at Externado University, said the call could \u201cjustify the use of weapons by civilians\u201d in areas already impacted by conflicts between the military, drug traffickers and rebel groups.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colombia\u2019s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has repeated allegations that June\u2019s presidential election was rigged, rejecting the legitimacy of his right-wing successor, Abelardo de la Espriella. Speaking before journalists in Bogota on Monday, the left-wing Petro claimed that programmers had altered thousands of tally sheets after counts were transmitted to the national election agency. He alleged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nColombia\u2019s Petro repeats vote fraud claims days before handing over power - Asia Newscast<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=1730\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colombia\u2019s Petro repeats vote fraud claims days before handing over power - Asia Newscast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Colombia\u2019s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has repeated allegations that June\u2019s presidential election was rigged, rejecting the legitimacy of his right-wing successor, Abelardo de la Espriella. 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