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CALI, Colombia — Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella took office Friday, vowing to wage war on drug-running guerrillas and usher in a new era of close ties with the United States.
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The flamboyant former lawyer brings an abrupt to the right for the Andean nation, vowing to bomb jungle cocaine labs, build “mega-prisons” and slash the size of the state.
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De la Espriella and his Vice President Jose Manuel Restrepo cheered, embraced and performed their campaign’s characteristic military salute after taking their respective oaths.
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After four years of diplomatic spats with the United States, President Donald Trump now has a keen ally in Bogota.
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The 48-year-old president, who holds dual U.S. and Colombian citizenship, has offered to launch joint military operations and even host U.S. troops on Colombian soil.
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In a break with tradition, his inauguration took place in the tropical southwestern city of Cali, Colombia’s salsa capital, not at Congress in more buttoned-down Bogota.
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Among the guests was a smiling Gianni Infantino, the beleaguered FIFA president who faces scathing criticism over his now-shelved plan to open the World Cup and other competitions up to private investment.
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Powerful right-wing figures also attended, including Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Todd Blanche, Trump’s acting attorney general, who headed the U.S. delegation.
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De la Espriella’s leftist predecessor Gustavo Petro declined to attend the ceremony.
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He earlier left the presidential residence in the capital, bidding “farewell, freedom and life.”
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Cali has been the scene of several guerrilla pipe bomb attacks in the last few years, and the city saw beefed-up security for the occasion including 11,000 troops and an anti-drone system.
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De la Espriella’s narrow victory of less than one percentage point ended four years of Colombia’s first-ever leftist government.
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“We are beginning a new era!” he declared in his victory speech in June, after beating leftist rival Ivan Cepeda.
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He is now faced with a divided Congress, where he lacks a majority.
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Supporters hope De la Espriella will bring an iron fist when tackling crime and dissident armed groups after years of spluttering peace talks.
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“This government has a lot to prove. A lot was said during the campaign,” 46-year-old Marisol Peira told AFP in Cali.
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Petro tried and failed to negotiate peace with the country’s myriad armed groups.
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Experts say the gangs — once ideological but now focused on making money from cocaine trafficking and other illicit trades — used government truces as cover to grow.
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Petro is not going quietly. He called for mass protests in major cities on Friday, claiming election fraud without providing evidence.
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De la Espriella’s victory is yet another notch in the belt for Latin American right-wingers after electoral wins from Chile to Costa Rica on the back of security promises.
