Colombia’s President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella speaks throughout a press convention in Bogota, Colombia, July 30, 2026.
John Vizcaino/AP
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John Vizcaino/AP
BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia’s new president will probably be sworn into workplace Friday amid tight safety measures geared toward stopping protests and potential assaults by insurgent teams.
Abelardo de la Espriella, an outspoken conservative who has been praised by President Trump, has promised to confront insurgent teams in Colombia with larger army pressure whereas slicing authorities spending to cut back a funds deficit that doubled below outgoing President Gustavo Petro.
De la Espriella, a former legal protection lawyer who ran as a political outsider, is breaking with custom by holding his inauguration ceremony in Cali quite than the capital, Bogotá. The 48-year-old selected the southwestern metropolis, which has been hit laborious by drug violence and assaults from insurgent teams, as the positioning of his swearing-in.
Some 11,000 troops have been deployed to the town to make sure the security of the brand new president and the roughly dozen heads of state attending the inauguration.
These anticipated to attend embrace Argentina’s Javier Milei, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and Chile’s José Antonio Kast, alongside U.S. Performing Lawyer Normal Todd Blanche, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and King Felipe VI of Spain.
Drones have been banned, and privately owned autos is not going to be allowed on metropolis roads throughout Inauguration Day.
“One of many basic priorities of my authorities will probably be to exert management of our territory,” de la Espriella stated in a speech earlier this week. “If we do not management our cities and our rural areas, this nation will lose its sovereignty.”
Over the previous 4 years, drug gangs and insurgent teams linked to a long time of political battle in Colombia have change into more and more highly effective in rural areas, the place they extort native companies and revenue from actions resembling unlawful mining and the drug commerce.
Petro, a progressive, tried to barter peace agreements with many of those teams below a method often known as “Whole Peace”. However critics say the technique failed, with some armed teams utilizing ceasefires granted by the federal government to rearm, regroup and broaden their management over rural communities.
De la Espriella has stated he’ll finish peace talks with Colombia’s insurgent teams and confront them with larger army pressure.
The rich lawyer, who has by no means held elected workplace, helps a more durable method to crime that features constructing giant prisons and utilizing aerial spraying and drones to destroy unlawful coca crops, a observe Colombia halted greater than a decade in the past due to environmental considerations.
Elizabeth Dickinson, a Colombia analyst on the Worldwide Disaster Group, stated that with de la Espriella, “the pendulum swings again to the best” after 4 years of a left-leaning administration that struggled to realize leads to negotiations with armed teams.
She stated elevated army strain may assist weaken insurgent teams and encourage some fighters to demobilize, however fully ending the potential of future talks may very well be counterproductive.
“We’re speaking a few battle that has an estimated 27,000 people concerned in numerous armed and legal teams,” Dickinson stated. “These people will want a route again into regular life.”
De la Espriella gained Colombia’s presidential election by about 250,000 votes, defeating left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda by roughly one share level.
He’s the newest conservative chief elected in Latin America as voters more and more deal with crime and safety considerations.
Proper-wing leaders have not too long ago gained elections in Peru, Chile and Ecuador, reflecting a conservative shift in elements of South America.
These politicians have sought nearer alignment with the Trump administration on points resembling immigration and anti-drug insurance policies.
De la Espriella has expressed assist for the Trump administration’s controversial marketing campaign of militarly strikes towards vessels suspected of carrying medication within the Caribbean and japanese Pacific, by which greater than 200 individuals have been killed.
He’s additionally anticipated to hurry up the extradition of insurgent leaders wished in the USA on drug costs. He has begun aligning Colombia’s international coverage with Washington by slicing diplomatic ties with Cuba and restoring relations with Israel.
Domestically, de la Espriella has stated he desires to chop authorities spending by as a lot as 40% to cut back the rising funds deficit. He has already introduced plans to shut 14 Colombian embassies in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
However de la Espriella should construct a majority in Colombia’s fragmented Congress if he desires to push by means of deeper reforms, stated Sergio Guzmán, a political analyst in Bogotá.
The brand new president additionally faces opposition from Petro, who has refused to acknowledge the election consequence and claimed, with out offering credible proof, that the vote rely was rigged.
Guzmán stated the fraud allegations may gasoline protests towards de la Espriella’s authorities amongst Colombians who’re already involved that his anti-crime insurance policies may result in human rights abuses by safety forces.
“Petro goes to be a continuing nuisance for De la Espriella,” Guzmán stated. “However I feel De la Espriella is prepared for a battle with Petro, each rhetorically and probably on the streets.
