By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA, June 18 (Reuters) - Abelardo De La Espriella, a lawyer and businessman with no political experience, burst onto the political scene last year and is now favored to be Colombia's next president, with hardline proposals to crack down on crime, cut government programs and taxes and revive oil exploration.
Nicknamed "The Tiger" by his followers, De La Espriella has portrayed himself as an anti-establishment savior capable of reviving Colombia's ailing economy and restoring
order in a country rattled by illegal armed groups and drug trafficking.
"I will dare to do what needs to be done within the framework of the Constitution and the law to save and rebuild Colombia," De La Espriella said in an interview with Reuters in February. "It requires character, passion, courage, and determination, and I am the tiger for that."
De La Espriella began gaining popularity early in the year with his hardline discourse. He pulled off a victory in the first round in late May with 43.7% of the vote. He has since been a favorite in every poll leading up to Sunday's runoff against leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda.
Cepeda and De La Espriella offer dueling visions for Colombia. Cepeda vows to deepen leftist President Gustavo Petro's economic and social reforms and continue peace talks with armed groups that have fought the state for decades.
De La Espriella blames Petro for Colombia's economic and security woes and has vowed to reduce the size of the state by 40%, broaden the tax base and cut corporate taxes to promote private employment.
He also wants to restart oil exploration and allow fracking to nearly double production to 1.3 million barrels per day.
"Colombia is going through its darkest hours," De La Espriella told Reuters. "At the end of the day, it's not a battle between (Petro's) heir apparent Ivan Cepeda and me, it's a battle between totalitarianism and democracy, between the past and the future, between statism and economic freedom."
De La Espriella's sprawling business empire includes wine, rum, clothing and real estate. An investigative journalism outlet, La Silla Vacia, found that many of his businesses have been dissolved, are in debt and lost money overall in 2024, with his law firm being his most profitable endeavor.
De La Espriella claims to be self-financing his campaign and his "Defenders of the Homeland" movement without support from outside political parties or business groups. Reuters could not independently verify this claim.
LUXURY WATCHES ON AN IRON FIST
De La Espriella, 47, uses a military salute in events and campaign advertisements despite never having served in the military.
Often donning luxury watches, designer sunglasses and with a well-groomed beard, De La Espriella has drawn comparisons to El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, who calls himself the "world's coolest dictator."
Bukele has implemented iron-fisted security policies and mega-prisons that pushed crime rates in El Salvador to among the lowest in Central America and prompted calls for other countries to adopt similar policies. He has detained more than 90,000 people in the process, drawing criticism from human rights groups.
De La Espriella denies he is imitating Bukele but has proposed 10 mega-prisons in Colombia.
"In my government there will be no peace processes. Any bandit who does not surrender will be killed, as is the law," he said. "And if they do surrender, they will have to be imprisoned in a real jail."
De La Espriella has faced criticism for legally representing Alex Saab, who faces charges in the U.S. that he allegedly laundered money for ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The candidate has also represented people linked to corruption scandals, financial embezzlement and right-wing paramilitaries.
He says his professional relationships as an attorney do not involve any complicity or crime.
De La Espriella, a married father of four, grew up in the Caribbean city of Monteria and is a known singer of the region's traditional vallenato folk music.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta, edited by Nelson Bocanegra, Alexander Villegas and David Gregorio)
