Petro says he will skip Colombia’s presidential inauguration over alleged election fraud
Key Takeaways
- Gustavo Petro said he will not attend Abelardo de la Espriella's inauguration.
- The Colombian president alleged fraud involving overseas votes and social media bots.
- Election authorities say they have found no evidence to support Petro's allegations.
Colombia's president said he would boycott the August 7 swearing-in ceremony, insisting the election was tainted despite authorities rejecting his allegations
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced that he will not attend the inauguration of president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, saying he does not recognise the legitimacy of the election result.
Speaking during a televised Council of Ministers meeting on Tuesday, Petro repeated his claims that fraud influenced the June 21 presidential run-off, in which De la Espriella defeated Historic Pact candidate Ivan Cepeda.
The president alleged that election records from overseas voting, particularly in the United States, had not been delivered.
"They did not deliver the tally sheets from keyholders for overseas voting, especially those from the United States, because that is where the fraud is. And I cannot accept a president, and that is why I will not be anywhere on August 7 nor shake his hand... it is fraud, which I believe amounts to 848,000 votes, which is the number from the additional census that I reported," Petro said.
He also accused the opposition campaign of using hundreds of thousands of automated social media accounts with international financial backing.
"They used half a million bots... machines broadcasting through paid networks [vote buying], and there is international support, paid. That costs a fortune, tens of millions of dollars. It requires the backing of foreign governments to do it," he declared.
Petro further claimed that private Israeli intelligence companies were linked to the alleged financing, referring to recordings attributed to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez.
"Netanyahu publicly, through the gentleman drug trafficker, former president of Honduras, Orlando Hernandez, said it in some recordings that are evidence before the courts," he said.
The latest remarks add to a series of fraud allegations Petro has made since February 2026.
Colombia's National Civil Registry and election observers have said they have found no verifiable evidence to support the president's claims.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
