Right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella has been sworn in as Colombia’s president after defeating leftist incumbent Gustavo Petro in June’s runoff election. He took the oath on Friday in Cali rather than Bogotá, promising to crack down on armed groups, cut government spending by as much as 40 percent and revive the country’s oil and gas industry.
The inauguration marked a break with Petro’s policy of negotiated peace with armed groups. De la Espriella said dialogue was “completely exhausted” and pledged to “relentlessly defeat narco-terrorism”, while security measures were intensified around the ceremony.
| Gustavo Petro | Abelardo de la Espriella | |
|---|---|---|
| Approach to armed groups | Pursued a strategy of negotiated peace. | Promises a crackdown and says dialogue is exhausted. |
| Political position | Leftist president and former rebel fighter. | Right-wing lawyer and political newcomer. |
Why the inauguration was held in Cali
De la Espriella held the ceremony at a university auditorium in Cali, a city in Colombia’s volatile southwest that has long been affected by the government’s conflict with armed groups. The location signalled a decisive break from Petro’s approach.
Soldiers and armoured vehicles lined roads near the venue, while police checkpoints screened vehicles for explosives in the days before the ceremony. After taking office, de la Espriella visited a nearby military battalion and addressed troops directly.
The armed groups facing the new government
Colombia’s southwest remains contested by dissident factions of the demobilised FARC rebel movement that rejected the peace deal signed a decade ago. The Clan del Golfo drug cartel and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, are also active in the area.
De la Espriella has aligned himself with United States President Donald Trump’s militaristic approach to drug crime in Latin America. He has also pledged to join the “Shield of the Americas”, a US-backed regional coalition against drug trafficking that grew out of a Trump administration summit in March.
Other promises and disputed election aftermath
The new president has pledged to restore diplomatic relations with Israel and sever ties with Cuba and Nicaragua, which he has branded “tyrannies”. He also campaigned on reducing government spending by as much as 40 percent and reviving Colombia’s oil and gas industry.
Petro initially refused to accept the election result, alleging that vote tallies had been manipulated. International observers and Colombia’s electoral authorities dismissed that claim, and Petro ultimately said he would respect the outcome. Protests nevertheless took place in Cali, Bogotá and Barranquilla on inauguration day.
Related coverage:
No comments yet. Start the discussion.