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Trump says Colombia’s ‘El Tigre’ will be a ‘great president’ as socialist opponent launches legal challenge
Trump congratulates Colombia presidential candidate
Trump congratulated Abelardo De La Espriella, known by many as ‘El Tigre,’ following an initial ballot count. While not officially called, the narrow lead signals a potential rightward shift for Colombia. (Reuters.)
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President Donald Trump congratulated conservative attorney and businessman Abelardo de la Espriella on becoming president of Colombia Monday at the White House. Yet while he holds a slim lead and is the favorite to win over left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, authorities have yet to officially certify the result.
With 99.9% of votes counted, de la Espriella led with 49.7% to Cepeda’s 48.7%. De la Espriella, known to his supporters as «El Tigre,» dominated in the country’s mountainous interior and the vote-rich state of Antioquia, while Cepeda won in the capital Bogotá and performed well in coastal regions, following trends of recent presidential elections.
Cepeda has challenged the results, citing irregularities at thousands of polling stations. Nonetheless, overturning the election would be unprecedented in Colombian history.
If de la Espriella does hold out, it will mirror a continent-wide rightward shift seen in recent electoral results in Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru, where conservative Keiko Fujimori appears poised to win the presidency.
ANTI-CARTEL HARDLINER CHANNELS TRUMP IN BID TO END COLOMBIA’S LEFTIST ERA IN PIVOTAL ELECTION
Colombia’s right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, from the Defensores de la Patria movement, delivers a speech to supporters during a campaign rally in Palmira, near Cali, Colombia on May 14, 2026. Colombia will hold presidential elections on May 31. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP via Getty Images)
Donald Trump congratulated de la Espriella during a signing at the White House on Monday. Trump told reporters that, «He called me last night, and he thanked me for the endorsement. He won. He won the election.» In response to a question on relations between the U.S. and Colombia, Trump asserted that things would be «Much better. It’ll be better. He’s going to be a great president.»
The election featured two candidates representing polar opposites of the Colombian political spectrum. De la Espriella, known as ‘El Tigre’ by his supporters, has enjoyed the enthusiastic backing of Donald Trump, promised a return to the law-and-order approach of former President Alvaro Uribe, and pledged an aggressive military campaign against guerrilla groups and criminal organizations, while Cepeda vowed to continue the negotiation-based strategy of Petro, a longtime political ally.
Ivan Cepeda is a longtime figure on the Colombian left, and served as senator for 12 years, following a four-year stint in the Chamber of Representatives. His father, Manuel Cepeda, was a prominent figure in the Colombian Communist Party, and was assassinated in 1994 during a particularly bloody era in Colombia’s internal conflict.
TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON COLOMBIA CRACKDOWN, CALLS PETRO ‘LUNATIC,’ VOWS TO END ALL US PAYMENTS OVER DRUGS

Colombia’s presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, of the Defensores de la Patria party, speaks behind bulletproof glass during his closing campaign rally in Medellin, Colombia on May 24, 2026. Colombia will hold presidential elections on May 31. (Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP Via Getty Images)
The first round of the election, held on May 31, saw de la Espriella win 43.7% of the vote, to Cepeda’s 40.9%, with right-wing Senator Paloma Valencia placing a distant third, at 6.9%.
On Sunday evening, Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated de la Espriella on the result, saying, «The Trump Administration looks forward to working closely with your incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States.»

Ivan Cepeda speaks during a campaign rally in Cali, Colombia, on June 6, 2026. The leftist candidate is set to face conservative attorney Abelardo De La Espriella in Colombia’s June 21 presidential runoff election. (AFP via Getty Images)
COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT PETRO THREATENS MILITARY RESPONSE AFTER TRUMP WARNS COLOMBIA MAY BE NEXT TARGET
While the issues driving American and Colombian politics remain considerably distinct, de la Espriella’s insurgent outsider campaign emulated Trump’s in many ways, particularly in the sense that neither held elected nor appointed office prior to winning the presidency, launching successful campaigns almost entirely outside the existing party structure.
The defining safety and security issue set de la Espriella on a winning course, as he honed something of a strongman image to forcefully critique the Petro administration’s policy of peace through negotiation with armed groups in opposition to the Colombian government.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, left, and President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Trump said Petro will «be next» amid escalating tensions over U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean and drug trafficking operations. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images; Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
It is widely believed that Petro’s negotiation-based approach and restraint with respect to military action has allowed such groups as the ELN (National Liberation Army), and various dissident elements of the FARC to regroup, boost recruitment and regain control of key territory and drug trafficking routes.
De la Espriella promised a return to an aggressive military campaign to reclaim territory from terrorist groups and cartels, and pledged to build «mega-prisons», citing the policies of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele as a model for eradicating criminal groups.
A de la Espriella administration will also likely mark a return to free-market economics, decreased governmental intervention in the economy, and a renewed push to lower taxes.
A strengthened U.S.-Colombia relationship is also a certainty, following an era of considerable tensions between Petro and Trump, which led to a series of acrimonious social media exchanges. Historically, Colombia was the U.S.’ strongest ally in the region, but the relationship has weakened considerably under the tenure of Petro.
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Political analysts will also be closely watching the dynamic between Colombia and Venezuela. De la Espriella is likely to follow the Trump administration’s lead in Bogotá’s approach to the new Delcy Rodriguez administration, demanding a timeline for free and fair elections, and calling on the Venezuelan government to aggressively pursue the ELN Marxist guerrilla group in border regions where it has long sought refuge, and had an allegedly close relationship with former dictator Nicolás Maduro.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
colombia, latin america, south america, foreign affairs, donald trump
INTERNACIONAL
El Cuerpo de Bomberos de El Salvador reporta un alza del 150% en emergencias por incendios en el inicio de las Fiestas Agostinas
Durante el primer día del periodo vacacional en El Salvador durante las fiestas agostinas, el Cuerpo de Bomberos atendió un incremento notable en emergencias por incendios, con un alza del 150% respecto al año anterior. La jornada, que marca el inicio de una de las semanas con mayor movimiento turístico en el país, evidenció un despliegue especial de recursos y personal en las principales zonas recreativas, playas, lagos y centros históricos, donde la afluencia de visitantes nacionales e internacionales se multiplica.
En declaraciones brindadas durante el programa Entrevista AM, Baltazar Solano, director del Cuerpo de Bomberos de El Salvador, detalló que la corporación ha reforzado su capacidad operativa como parte del Plan Vacación 2026, en coordinación con el Sistema Nacional de Protección Civil. Más de 800 bomberos y 150 inspectores fueron desplegados a escala nacional para cubrir 17 estaciones estratégicamente ubicadas, con el objetivo de actuar de manera preventiva y responder a cualquier emergencia.
Solano explicó que, pese a estar en temporada lluviosa, la presencia de una canícula provocó condiciones secas que favorecieron la propagación de incendios, situación poco habitual para el mes de agosto. Según el balance presentado, el primer día del periodo vacacional de 2026 registró 9 incendios en maleza, 5 estructurales y 1 en vehículo, totalizando 15 emergencias por fuego, frente a 6 reportadas el año anterior en la misma fecha. El funcionario calificó estos datos como “anómalos” para la época, ya que este tipo de incidentes suelen concentrarse en la época seca.

El operativo preventivo no solo se enfocó en incendios. El Cuerpo de Bomberos realizó inspecciones en bares, restaurantes, hoteles, hostales, gasolineras y ventas de gas para verificar condiciones de seguridad, como el estado de los sistemas eléctricos, la ubicación y funcionamiento de extintores. Solano afirmó que el comercio y la industria han mostrado buena disposición para acatar las recomendaciones, sin hallazgos graves hasta el momento.
La vigilancia se extendió a los eventos religiosos, actividades masivas y ferias con énfasis en lugares como el parque de diversiones CívarLand y el Centro Histórico de San Salvador, donde se prevé la mayor concentración de visitantes durante la semana. En estos puntos, la institución mantuvo presencia permanente y revisó instalaciones eléctricas y de gas propano, así como la operación de juegos mecánicos, atendiendo el riesgo que representa la afluencia masiva y el uso de combustibles.
El director de Bomberos destacó la labor conjunta con los guardavidas de la Dirección General de Protección Civil, quienes realizaron 20 rescates profundos y 4 simples en el primer día del periodo. En 2025, durante la misma fecha, solo se reportaron 3 rescates profundos y ninguno simple. La cifra de 24 personas auxiliadas evidencia la intensidad del trabajo en playas y ríos, donde las corrientes, la imprudencia y el consumo de alcohol fueron factores de riesgo.

Solano lamentó la muerte de 1 persona en un río e insistió en la importancia de respetar las indicaciones de los guardavidas, especialmente en zonas de bandera roja, y evitar ingresar al mar o cuerpos de agua durante la noche o bajo los efectos del alcohol.
También subrayó la relevancia de acudir a lugares que cuenten con servicio de salvamento y recomendó a los excursionistas que visitan cerros o volcanes contratar guías certificados.
El Plan Vacación 2026 contempló, además, la revisión de protocolos para el uso de fuegos artificiales y la supervisión de eventos que implican aglomeraciones. El Cuerpo de Bomberos exige a organizadores y alcaldías notificar la realización de espectáculos pirotécnicos, para garantizar que se cumplan las normas de seguridad y se minimicen los riesgos de incendios accidentales.
Durante la entrevista, el director recordó que el número de emergencias habilitado para la población es el 913 y reiteró que la institución opera sin interrupciones durante toda la temporada. La estrategia gubernamental procura que tanto los salvadoreños como los turistas disfruten de las vacaciones con las condiciones de seguridad adecuadas, mientras las autoridades mantienen la vigilancia y la capacidad de respuesta ante cualquier eventualidad.
corresponsal:Desde San Salvador, El Salvador
INTERNACIONAL
Iran reaffirms support for Hamas as Trump pushes to disarm terror group
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Hamas’ newly elected leader to congratulate him and pledge Tehran’s continued support for the group’s cause, Hamas said Monday — as President Donald Trump promotes a landmark agreement intended to strip the terrorist organization of its weapons and power in Gaza.
Pezeshkian congratulated Khalil al-Hayya on his election as head of the group’s political bureau and told him Iran would continue supporting the Palestinian cause, according to a Hamas statement posted in Arabic, and reviewed by Fox News Digital.
«We are with you, and we support you in every action you take, despite the attacks we are facing,» Pezeshkian said, according to Hamas’ account of the call.
Fox News Digital has asked Iran’s mission to the United Nations to confirm that the call took place and provide an official readout.
HAMAS TAPS ‘ULTIMATE INSTITUTIONAL SURVIVOR’ AS TERROR CHIEF, SENDING MESSAGE TO ISRAEL: EXPERT
Analysts say Al-Hayya’s elevation signals that Hamas, after the destruction of Gaza and the losses since Oct. 7, 2023, has prioritized organizational cohesion, armed continuity and the preservation of its Iranian relationship. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The reported conversation highlighted a central contradiction confronting Trump’s Gaza initiative: While the White House is presenting the roadmap as a landmark agreement to remove Hamas from power and secure its weapons, Iran — the group’s longtime military and financial patron — was simultaneously reaffirming its support for Hamas and its new leader. Tehran’s backing raises fresh questions about whether Hamas is prepared to surrender the arsenal at the core of its power and how the Board of Peace could enforce disarmament against a group that continues to receive political support from one of Washington’s principal regional adversaries.
Trump in recent days announced what he called a «HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups,» presenting it as a breakthrough after nearly three years of war. The stakes extend far beyond the wording of the deal: Hamas’ weapons remain the central obstacle to rebuilding Gaza, and the agreement will test whether Trump’s Board of Peace can enforce a postwar transition or whether Hamas will exploit the process to survive, regroup and retain power.
At the center of the effort is Trump’s Board of Peace, the president’s handpicked vehicle for implementing his Gaza policy and potentially extending his approach to other global conflicts. Trump chairs the board, whose executive leadership includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The White House says the board will oversee Gaza’s transition, mobilize reconstruction funding and hold the parties accountable.
But the tensions intensified Monday also on the Israeli side, when Nickolay Mladenov, Board of Peace director-general and high representative for Gaza, and board advisor Aryeh Lightstone met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged Israel to halt its attacks in Gaza.
Israel appeared to reject the board’s two central demands shortly afterward.
«Israel will not withdraw from its current line in the Gaza Strip and will continue to thwart any threat to our civilians and soldiers,» an Israeli political official said. The statement amounted to a rejection, at least for now, of demands that Israel return to the «yellow line» and halt targeted strikes in Gaza.
A Board of Peace official declined to discuss the meeting but said the body remained focused on carrying out the roadmap.
«We are focused on implementation,» the official told Fox News Digital. «We have provided a pragmatic path forward to transform Gaza by removing Hamas from power and seeing it hand over its weapons. These steps would undoubtedly allow for the improvement of life in Gaza and enhancement of security in Israel. We remain determined to advance these objectives.»
Meanwhile, the Hamas terrorist group says it has agreed only to a phased and conditional process involving the storage of weapons after Israel stops its attacks, withdraws its forces and allows more aid into Gaza. Hamas has avoided the word «disarmament» in its statements and insists its weapons would remain under Palestinian control rather than being surrendered to Israel or an international force.
HAMAS AGREES TO COMPLETE DISARMAMENT UNDER ‘HISTORIC’ GAZA AGREEMENT: TRUMP

A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, Oct. 11, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo/Reuters)
The board’s 15-point roadmap calls for Hamas to transfer Gaza’s civilian government and security responsibilities to a Palestinian technocratic body known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. Hamas-run police would surrender their weapons to the committee, while heavy weapons, military production sites, weapons depots and tunnels would be addressed later through a phased decommissioning process linked to an Israeli withdrawal.
The intended endpoint is that only the new Palestinian authority would possess or control weapons in Gaza. But the roadmap leaves unresolved who will enforce the process, what constitutes compliance and which side must act first.
Hamas’ disarmament remains a central obstacle to rebuilding Gaza. Trump has tied reconstruction to the group laying down its weapons, while The Associated Press reported that the Board of Peace had secured approximately $7 billion in pledges by February — a fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the devastated territory.
Moumen al-Natour, a Palestinian lawyer from Gaza and co-founder of the anti-Hamas «We Want to Live» movement, said civilians desperately want the agreement to succeed but do not trust Hamas to relinquish power.
«Civilian people inside Gaza Strip… want safety, want to stop this war, want a new government, want to be alive,» al-Natour told Fox News Digital.
But al-Natour, who previously was imprisoned by Hamas, warned that the group would use delays and violations to remain embedded in Gaza.
«I can’t trust Hamas because I know Hamas,» he said, arguing that the group had repeatedly arrested and killed Palestinians who opposed its rule. He said an international force of only a few hundred personnel would be unable to secure Gaza or prevent Hamas from intimidating residents and that a much larger force and a new Palestinian police structure would be required.
Drawing on a grassroots network of thousands of Gazan professionals who reject Hamas’ ideology, the «We Want to Live» movement is promoting its own plan to rebuild Gaza’s civil society and is calling for cooperation with the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the technocratic body tasked under the U.S.-backed transition plan with governing and rebuilding the enclave.
Al-Natour also proposed allowing civilians who want to escape Hamas-controlled areas to move into protected zones near the «yellow line» — the boundary separating Israeli-held territory from the rest of Gaza — where they could live under a new Palestinian administration backed by an international security force. He said the arrangement could provide Gazans with a safer alternative while a post-Hamas governing structure is established.
HAMAS SAYS IT WILL DISSOLVE GAZA GOVERNMENT, BUT ISRAEL WARNS GROUP STILL SEEKS HEZBOLLAH-STYLE CONTROL

A mourner carries the body of a Palestinian who was killed in Israeli strikes, according to medics, during a funeral, in Gaza City, Aug. 2, 2026. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
Michael Milstein, a former military intelligence officer in Israel and now head of the Palestinian Studies Centre at Tel Aviv University, said the compromise has been developing for months under pressure from Qatar, Turkey and Egypt.
Milstein said Hamas may be prepared to give up control of Gaza’s day-to-day government and accept restrictions on heavy weapons but is unlikely to abandon its armed organization completely.
Under the model Hamas appears to favor, Milstein said, a technocratic government and international forces would assume responsibility for public services and reconstruction while Hamas preserves its personnel, infrastructure and political influence — an arrangement resembling Hezbollah’s longtime position in Lebanon.
«There is a very, very low chance that Hamas will completely disarm,» Milstein told Fox News Digital, describing the roadmap as the kind of «gray area» Hamas has historically used to its advantage.
The Board of Peace also is pressing for an end to actions that could derail the plan. After Israeli strikes killed civilians and reportedly destroyed medical supplies over the weekend, Mladenov, the director-general of the Board of Peace, called for de-escalation but did not identify Israel by name.
«Two days of strikes across Gaza have killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies,» Mladenov wrote on X, adding that he was working with the parties and regional mediators to «create the space for the full implementation of the President’s plan.»

Palestinians inspect the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a medicine warehouse, according to medics, next to tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Aug. 1, 2026, residents had been pre-warned by the Israeli military to evacuate. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)
Israel, meanwhile, says it will not withdraw before Hamas genuinely disarms. Hamas says Israel must withdraw first.
The roadmap also faces resistance inside Israel’s government. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strock urged Netanyahu on Monday to convene the security Cabinet immediately and block the international stabilization force from entering Gaza, according to Israel’s N12 news outlet.
In an urgent letter reported by N12 on Aug. 3, 2026, the ministers called the Board of Peace roadmap «dangerous to Israel» and argued that it contradicts Israel’s stated goals of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza. They objected that weapons would be placed under the authority of a new Palestinian body rather than removed from Gaza or handed to Israel and that Israeli troops would begin withdrawing while the disarmament process was still underway.
The far-right ministers also argued that the international force would monitor the separation between Israeli troops and the new Palestinian administration rather than directly disarm Hamas. They demanded that Netanyahu prevent implementation until the roadmap is revised to require full demilitarization before an Israeli withdrawal. The letter underscores that the plan’s obstacles extend beyond Hamas: Influential members of Netanyahu’s coalition are also challenging its sequencing, enforcement and security provisions.

Israeli troops are pictured outside the Gaza Strip ahead of a military operation in northern Gaza (Daphne Lemelin/AFP via Getty Images)
That leaves Trump’s proclaimed milestone resting on the same question that has stalled previous Gaza negotiations: whether Hamas is truly preparing to surrender the weapons that underpin its power — or merely buying time to ensure that it remains standing when the rebuilding begins.
hamas, iran, world, donald trump, israel
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