On Sunday, voters in Colombia will choose their next president in a contest that could have implications far beyond the country’s borders.

One of the leading candidates is Abelardo de la Espriella, a far-right celebrity lawyer who has been endorsed by US President Donald Trump and has pledged to take an “iron fist” approach to crime if elected.

De la Espriella led Iván Cepeda, a philosopher and veteran human-rights senator, after the first round of voting, and some polls make him the favourite. But nothing is settled. Undecided voters and the large number of Colombians who stayed home in the first round could still hand the presidency to Cepeda.

Should de la Espriella win, the wave that carried other far-right leaders to victory in Latin America – Nayib Bukele (El Salvador), Javier Milei (Argentina) and José Antonio Kast (Chile) – would claim its largest prize yet.

The candidate, and the danger

De la Espriella, who goes by the nickname “El Tigre” (“the Tiger”), is more a performer than a political candidate. For starters, he has no political experience. At rallies, he wears the Colombian national football jersey (even after a judge ordered him to stop) and finishes his speeches with a military salute and a fiery slogan, “Firmes por la Patria” (“Firm for the Homeland”).

On policy, he is........

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