Colombia’s Coastal Divide: Two Towns, Two Paths to the Presidency

In Juan de Acosta, the political mood is dictated by fear. Residents describe a sharp spike in extortion and homicide, a shift that has driven support toward Abelardo De La Espriella, a candidate campaigning on a promise to dismantle armed groups. Local shopkeepers report being shaken down for daily protection money, and the presence of criminal syndicates like the Clan del Golfo has turned the municipality into a strategic corridor for drug trafficking. For voters like butcher Nicanor Alba, the rhetoric of "the Tiger"—as the lawyer and businessman calls himself—is a necessary reaction to a security crisis that has left the community feeling besieged.

Tubara presents a starkly different reality, where the focus remains on the social stability fostered by the current administration. Supporters of leftist senator Ivan Cepeda point to the expansion of free university access and state-funded pensions for domestic workers as tangible benefits of the status quo. Unlike its neighbor, Tubara has remained largely insulated from the surge in contract killings, allowing residents to prioritize healthcare and wage reforms over security crackdowns. As the runoff approaches, the regional contest hinges on whether these communities can be persuaded that their neighbor’s path is not the greater threat to their own.