Colombia Congress rejects president-elect's Senate candidate

Colombia's new Congress dealt an early setback to hard-right president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Monday by voting against his candidate for president of the Senate. Congress instead chose a leader from the party of former president Alvaro Uribe, who has distanced himself from De la Espriella.

De la Espriella does not have his own political party and is seeking support from lawmakers before his August 7 inauguration to advance his reforms. The source reported that the left joined forces with the traditional right to defeat his candidate, describing the move as highly unusual. Uribe's party and the party of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, the two largest groups in Congress, applauded the result.

Congress' 284 members took office on Monday for a four-year term after being elected in March. Leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, who ran against De la Espriella in the closely fought presidential election, celebrated the vote and wrote on X: "First defeat for De la Espriella."

De la Espriella will now need to build alliances if he is to advance his proposed reforms. The report says those reforms include closing the presidential peace office and launching military attacks against drug trafficking groups. Humberto Librado, director of political science at Colombia's Javeriana University, told AFP there was "tension" because of a "fragmented" legislature.