Two Colombias, One Election

Before Colombia elected its next president, many young voters had already lost faith in the choice.

Sebastián Lucio: Youth4Truth's Colombia Ambassador

Introduction

As Colombians headed to the polls this weekend, the election appeared to be about two candidates.

On one side stood Iván Cepeda, a left-wing politician closely associated with President Gustavo Petro and his vision of social reform. On the other stood Abelardo de la Espriella, the self-described “Tiger,” whose promises of security, economic growth, and a tougher stance on crime made him one of the most polarizing figures in modern Colombian politics.

Days later, de la Espriella would narrowly win the presidency by less than one percentage point.

Yet during our conversation with Sebastián Lucio, a 19-year-old from Bogotá and Youth4Truth’s Ambassador for Colombia, the focus rarely stayed on either candidate for long.

Instead, it kept returning to something deeper:

A growing sense that Colombian politics has become increasingly centered on political figures rather than long-term governing projects. For many voters, elections are less about choosing between competing policy visions than about supporting—or rejecting—the personalities who have come to define them.

After completing high school in the United States and preparing to begin his studies at Lehigh University this fall, Sebastián finds himself observing Colombia from an unusual position: close enough to understand its realities, yet distant enough to compare them with another political culture.

His perspective offers a window into a country that increasingly feels divided not only by ideology, but by experience itself.

A Country Split Between Fear and Hope

One theme emerged repeatedly throughout our conversation: polarization.

Not simply political polarization, but social polarization.

Q: How would you describe the political atmosphere in Colombia right now?

Sebastián:

These are probably the two most extreme candidates Colombia could have had. Cepeda represents a very progressive vision that resonates with young people, minorities, indigenous communities, and voters who feel excluded from traditional political structures. Many of his supporters see him as a continuation of Petro’s project.

De la Espriella represents almost the opposite. His campaign focuses heavily on security, patriotism, businesses, traditional values, and restoring order.

The problem is that people are increasingly voting out of fear.

Many people who support Cepeda are afraid of what the right represents. Many people who support de la Espriella are afraid of another left-wing government.

The campaigns are not really trying to win new voters anymore. They’re mostly trying to keep their own voters on their side.

Two Different Countries

Perhaps the most striking observation Sebastián offered had little to do with politicians.

It had to do with Bogotá itself.

Q: Is Colombia politically divided, or socially divided as well?

Sebastián:

Go from northern Bogotá to southern Bogotá and it feels like two different cities. Neither side is really conscious of how the other side lives. People on the left often see wealthier Colombians as disconnected elites. People on the right often see left-wing voters as unrealistic or irresponsible. The reality is that many people simply don’t experience the same country. They go to different schools, live in different neighborhoods, face different levels of security, and worry about different things. That creates political divisions, but it also creates social divisions.

Security and Everyday Life

If there was one issue Sebastián returned to more than any other, it was security.

Q: What issue feels most important in Colombia right now?

Sebastián:

Security. That’s the issue people talk about every day. The country has lived with violence for decades. Guerrilla groups, organized crime, extortion, narcotrafficking—these are not abstract issues here. They’re part of daily life.

Many people support de la Espriella because they believe he can restore order. But I also think many politicians oversimplify the problem. The idea that you can negotiate away every armed group isn’t realistic. The idea that you can solve everything through force isn’t realistic either.

The problem is much deeper than that.

Looking at Colombia From Abroad

Having spent several years studying in the United States, Sebastián often finds himself comparing the two countries.

Q: Has living in the United States changed how you see Colombia?

Sebastián:

Definitely. When you leave Colombia and come back, some things become more obvious. You realize how accustomed people have become to certain realities.

I don’t walk around afraid. I know how Colombia works. But there are things you always have to think about here that people in many places simply don’t. Security changes how people live. And when security becomes part of daily life, it becomes political.

Young People and Political Identity

One of the more interesting parts of the conversation centered on young voters.

Q: Why does Cepeda appeal to so many younger Colombians?

Sebastián:

A lot of young people are afraid of what the right represents. They care about social mobility, minority rights, and opportunities.

Cepeda’s campaign has also placed a strong emphasis on defending access to public education, which resonates with many younger voters. More broadly, both sides support education, but they frame it differently and emphasize different priorities.

At the same time, many young people on the right feel frustrated by what they see as empty promises from the left.

The result is that political identities increasingly form around the leaders themselves. Many Colombians are voting as much for—or against—figures like Petro and de la Espriella as they are for a particular ideology or long-term policy agenda.

A Crisis of Trust

Political divisions become even more difficult when confidence in institutions begins to weaken.

Q: Do young Colombians trust institutions?

Sebastián:

Not really. There is very little trust. People don’t trust politicians. Many people don’t trust the police.

Many people don’t trust the justice system. Legal processes can take years.

Corruption remains a huge concern. Whether those perceptions are always fair or not, they shape how people think about politics. And when trust disappears, fear becomes much more powerful.

Colombia’s Long Memory

Throughout the interview, Sebastián repeatedly referenced Colombia’s history.

Not because the country is trapped by the past, but because he worries that many Colombians have forgotten parts of it.

Q: What worries you most about the current political climate?

Sebastián:

Colombia tends to forget. We’ve seen divisions like this before. We’ve seen periods where politics became about enemies instead of opponents.

What worries me is that every event immediately becomes part of a political battle. People stop asking what happened and start asking whose side it helps.

That creates even more division.

Closing

A few days after this conversation, Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia’s presidency.

Yet listening back to Sebastián’s perspective, the election result feels less important than the conditions that produced it.

The deeper story is not simply that Colombia elected a new president.

It is that millions of Colombians increasingly feel disconnected from one another, distrustful of institutions, and uncertain about the future.

Many of those divisions are reinforced by a political culture that has become increasingly centered on personalities rather than long-term visions for the country.

In that sense, Colombia’s challenge is not only political. It is social.

As Sebastián put it:

“Neither side is really conscious of how the other side lives.”

And until that changes, the country’s divisions may outlast any single election.