Colombia's left-wing presidential candidate Iván Cepeda has conceded defeat three days after the election. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
Preliminary results showed Cepeda lost to right-wing businessman Abelardo de la Espriella by less than a percentage point. Cepeda initially said he would wait for the final count but on Wednesday announced he had "decided to accept the result".
He criticised US President Donald Trump for endorsing de la Espriella. "We denounce the open and undue foreign interference in Colombia's internal affairs, in particular the interventions of President Donald Trump," he told journalists.
Trump had praised de la Espriella after the first round and labelled Cepeda a "radical Left Marxist". After de la Espriella won the run-off, Trump said he had won "easily", even though his 0.96-percentage-point lead was the narrowest in recent Colombian history.
Referring to deep polarisation, Cepeda said he conceded "as an act of democratic responsibility; I do so to contribute to co-existence, to peace, and to dialogue among Colombians". As the second-placed candidate, he is entitled to a Senate seat, where he said he would exercise "a democratic, vigilant and constructive opposition".
Abelardo de la Espriella, who had threatened to "gut the Left" during the campaign, struck a conciliatory note in his victory speech, saying those who thought differently had nothing to fear.
Since Sunday's run-off, de la Espriella has strengthened ties with the Trump administration. The president-elect said on Tuesday he would accept an invitation for Colombia to join the "Shield of the Americas". De la Espriella will be sworn in on 7 August.