Rodolfo Hernandez, who lost Colombia’s 2022 elections to President Gustavo Petro, died at 79 on Monday.
Hernandez, who was convicted on corruption charges in June, died in a hospital on the outskirts of Bucaramanga, the capital of his native Santander province.
The politician had been sent to the International Hospital of Colombia after medics found that he suffered apparently terminal colon cancer.
Before trying his luck in politics earlier this century, Hernandez enjoyed a successful career in the construction sector.