Abelardo de la Espriella

De la Espriella was born in Bogotá, D.C., on July 31, 1978, to Abelardo de la Espriella Juris and María Eugenia Otero Aldana. His parents moved to Montería, Córdoba, when he was two years old.

His father, a lawyer by profession, served as a magistrate at the Administrative Tribunal of Córdoba.^[7] He was a candidate for governor of Córdoba during the 1997 Colombian regional and municipal elections.^[8] He is also a close friend of Álvaro Uribe, who was president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010. His mother, María Eugenia Otero Aldana, comes from a family of cattle ranchers with ties to local politics.^[7]

In his youth, he amused himself by tying firecrackers to cats and watching them explode: “it was terrible, but it entertained me.” During his early years, he associated with Salvatore Mancuso. Although Mancuso was ten years older, they studied at the same high school and moved within the same social circles—the city’s upper class. He also performed in his high school’s theater group and later worked for a popular local radio station, La Voz de Montería.^[7]

He has retained a passion for hunting and firearms.^[7]

After graduating, he moved to Bogotá, D.C., to study law at Sergio Arboleda University, an institution with a conservative orientation.^[7] He received his degree from Del Rosario University. In 2012 he obtained a master's degree in law from Nebrija University.^[9][10][11]

De la Espriella worked at the Initiatives for Peace Foundation (FIPAZ), an organization that sought to promote a referendum to recognize the political rights of all armed actors during the Colombian conflict and to amend the Constitution to prohibit the extradition of Colombians,^[12] serving as an advisor to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.^[13][14]

Espriella is a millionaire and before his presidential run travelled using private planes and promoted his rum and wine businesses.^[15]

He defended political figures accused of having allied themselves with paramilitaries, some of whom had been close to him since childhood, such as the former congresswoman Eleonora Pineda—who was a friend of his mother—as well as Dieb Maloof and Rocío Arias.^[7]

In 2012, De la Espriella represented Dania Londoño Suárez, a Colombian woman linked to the United States Secret Service prostitution scandal in Cartagena. According to an Associated Press report, he confirmed that his client had reached a pre-agreement with Playboy magazine and negotiated an interview with the American television network ABC. He stated that as a result of those agreements, she would not grant interviews to other news outlets, and declined to disclose the financial terms involved.^[16]

From 2013 to 2019, De la Espriella served as legal counsel to Alex Saab, who was later indicted in the United States on charges including money laundering and alleged operation as a financial agent for the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro.^[17] Saab publicly described De la Espriella as a close associate and legal advisor.^[18]

In May 2014, Venezuelan political strategist Juan José Rendón was reported to be scheduled to give a statement at the Colombian Consulate in Miami in connection with an investigation. According to La Prensa, he was to be accompanied by attorney Abelardo De La Espriella.^[19]

In 2026, the Inter American Press Association and the Colombian Foundation for Press Freedom raised concerns about potential judicial harassment by De la Espriella when, in response to a column discussing his ties to Saab, he announced possible legal actions against the author.^[20][21] Between 2008 and 2019, he was reportedly the complainant in 109 defamation and slander cases, many of which were dismissed. The Foundation for Press Freedom has described these cases as examples of judicial harassment.^[22]

In 2005, De la Espriella founded the Foundation for Peace Initiatives (FIPAZ).^[23] This foundation organized university forums in which Iván Roberto Duque, alias “Ernesto Báez,” former commander of the Central Bolívar Bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), took part, and at which Salvatore Mancuso was present and photographed alongside De la Espriella. FIPAZ also promoted a referendum to prohibit extradition in Colombia.^[24][25]

In 2008, Báez stated that “the armed organization sought out students, through Abelardo de la Espriella, as a dissemination channel to justify the war undertaken by the paramilitary organization.” In a 2011 ruling against former congressman Juan Pablo Sánchez, the Supreme Court of Justice held that FIPAZ “did not promote peace when the self-defense groups were massacring, disappearing, killing, and torturing, but rather when they sought to project themselves politically through university students,” and ordered that copies be forwarded so that De la Espriella could be investigated. However, the Office of the Attorney General, under the leadership of Mario Iguarán —who was a close friend of De la Espriella— had already closed the investigation against De la Espriella for conspiracy to commit crimes and money laundering in 2009.^[24][26]

The political website La Silla Vacía notes that “everything in his campaign revolves around the idea of the ‘alpha male’ as an unquestionable sign of his ability to govern,” in order to set himself apart from the conservative candidate, Paloma Valencia.^[27][28][29]

His rallies have featured figures from across the political right in Latin America, including military veteran leaders and evangelical preachers.^[30]

De la Espriella has been widely described as right-wing or far-right.^{[31][13][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]} De la Espriella has expressed admiration for far-right leaders.^[31] He supports the right to bear arms,^[39] withdrawing Colombia from international organizations such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the United Nations,^[40] and improving relations with Israel.^[41] He has said he would authorize the police to shoot at protesters they believe to be violent.^[30] He has also threatened to kill suspects of drug trafficking by downing planes and shooting boats, which has been “widely denounced as a form of extrajudicial killing, effectively denying suspects the chance of defending themselves in a court of law”.^[35]

He is supportive of economic laissez-faire policies and the elimination of ministries.^[13][42] He also has supported the bombing of "narco-terrorist camps" and fumigation of coca plantations with the help of U.S. aircraft, in addition to ending the peace processes with Colombian armed groups.^[43][44][45]

De la Espriella has repeatedly shown approval for Álvaro Uribe Vélez and his presidency. He also has friendly relations with Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa.^[46]

He is anti-abortion.^[47]

He is an admirer of Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele.^[34]