Colombia’s Petro repeats vote fraud claims days before handing over power

Core Impact Points

• Colombia's outgoing President Gustavo Petro has repeated allegations of vote fraud in the June presidential election.
• Petro claims that programmers altered tally sheets and that foreign powers manipulated the election.
• The allegations could weaken the standing of the incoming president and deepen Colombia's political polarization.
• Petro's final months in office were marked by repeated clashes with US President Donald Trump, whose administration has courted Latin America's right and pressured its left-wing governments.
• Petro fears being 'extracted' from Colombia once he becomes an opposition leader and has called for protests and the formation of 'liberation guards'.
• The US has launched a probe into potential links between Petro and drug traffickers in the course of his 2022 presidential campaign.