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Colombia’s De la Espriella pledges closer US ties and crackdown
His inauguration included offers for joint military operations and the possibility of hosting US troops in Colombia, after years of diplomatic friction with Washington.
Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella took office Friday, pledging a sharper campaign against drug-running guerrillas and vowing to usher in closer ties with the United States, Agence France-Presse and SCMP Economy report.
De la Espriella, who is 48 and holds dual US and Colombian citizenship, said he is prepared to coordinate joint military operations and even host US troops on Colombian soil, framing the move as a shift after four years of diplomatic rows with Washington under President Donald Trump.
In his inauguration, the president also reiterated campaign promises including bombing jungle cocaine labs, building “mega prisons,” and cutting the size of the state, as his vice-president, Jose Manuel Restrepo, took his oath alongside him.
The ceremony took place in Cali in Colombia’s tropical southwest, rather than at Congress in more formal Bogota, marking a break with tradition.