Colombia's Petro accuses Israel of election interference

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused Israel of interfering in the country's recent presidential election, calling for a full forensic audit and recount after a narrow victory by right-wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella. The allegations center on claims that electoral software was compromised, though no public evidence has been presented linking Israel to any irregularities.

The accusations follow the June 21 runoff, where preliminary results from the National Registry showed De La Espriella with 49.66 percent of the vote, edging out left-wing senator Iván Cepeda, who received 48.70 percent. The outcome marks a significant political shift after four years of Petro's left-wing government. Cepeda has indicated plans to challenge results from more than 30,000 voting stations, and the official verification process is ongoing.

In a social media post, Petro stated he had long warned that the electoral software, developed by the Bautista brothers, was vulnerable. He said he had requested an expert audit before the election, which was not permitted. Petro now claims authorities have evidence of changes to the IP addresses of several National Registry servers. "This means...