Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused "Israel" of interfering in the country's presidential runoff in an effort to manipulate the outcome in favor of conservative candidate Abelardo de la Espriella.

Writing on X, Petro said he had warned that the software used by the Bautista brothers' company was vulnerable, citing a 2018 ruling by the Council of State calling for it to be replaced with public software.

Petro said there was evidence of "a change in the IP addresses of several servers belonging to the National Registry Office," adding that the only country in the world capable of carrying out such an operation is "Israel."

He stressed that he had requested, in time, an expert audit of the Bautista brothers' software, but the registrar did not allow it.

Petro called for "a battle for democracy" after the preliminary count in the presidential runoff placed de la Espriella in first place, narrowly ahead of Ivan Cepeda. He renewed his call for all polling stations to be scrutinized and demanded a full recount, including a review of vulnerabilities in the electoral software and of the polling stations affected by irregularities.

He also urged calm and restraint, so that the count could be carried out thoroughly and properly, in a way that truly reflects the will of the public.

Shortly afterward, de la Espriella declared himself president before a mass rally of supporters in Barranquilla, Atlantico, even as the preliminary count was still underway.

"I appear before you tonight to announce the most important news of my life," said the candidate from the Defenders of the Homeland party. "The Colombian people have entrusted me with the supreme honor of serving as their next president."

With 99.99% of polling stations reporting, preliminary data showed de la Espriella with 49.66% of the vote against 48.70% for pro-government candidate Ivan Cepeda, a margin of just 0.96 percentage points. The tally remains preliminary and is neither official nor binding.

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