Colombia’s Petro repeats vote fraud claims days before handing over power

Outgoing leader renews allegations that Colombia’s electoral authorities and international observers have rejected.Colombia’s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has repeated allegations that June’s 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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Petro to give farewell speech amid Colombia transfer-of-power tensionslist 2 of 3Colombia’s president-elect to suspend Palestine embassylist 3 of 3At least 11 wounded by Colombia car bomb days before presidential electionend of listHe alleged that the election was “obscure” and had been manipulated by foreign powers, and that metadata associated with vote tallies was not made available for review.Colombia’s 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’s ally Ivan Cepeda by 250,000 votes.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’s political polarisation.Petro, a former rebel fighter who in 2022 became the country’s 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.“We are facing a profound institutional problem,” Petro said. “And it’s the inauguration of an illegitimate president.”Feud with WashingtonPetro’s final months in office were marked by repeated clashes with US President Donald Trump, whose administration has courted Latin America’s right and pressured its left-wing governments.