The Trump administration plans to provide $۱bn in security assistance to the government of Colombia’s new rightwing president, the US state department announced, soon after Abelardo De La Espriella was sworn in and used his inaugural speech to pledge a vigorous fight against drug trafficking, as well as austerity measures to restore confidence in the economy.
De La Espriella, ۴۸, won June’s runoff election with promises to crack down on armed groups, shrink the state by as much as ۴۰% and revive the oil and gas sector.
“I have come to close a long chapter of national resignation and, together with the people, embark on the most profound transformation of our destiny,” De La Espriella said at the Pichincha Battalion military base in Cali after being sworn in on Friday.
“I send a firm message to the Colombian people: the time has come to restore order, authority and freedom,” said De La Espriella, who received the endorsement of Donald Trump before his runoff election.
“Members of criminal gangs and narco-terrorist groups have two choices: submit to the rule of law or face the determined response of the Colombian state and its security forces,” the new president told assembled troops at the base during a ۷۵-minute speech, adding the option of peace talks with armed groups had been “completely exhausted”.
The US state department said in a statement on Friday: “As a cornerstone of this renewed partnership, the United States, working with Congress, intends to announce $۱ billion in assistance as part of a security package to support President de la Espriella’s Administration in achieving our shared goals.”
De La Espriella’s election is part of a rightward shift rippling across Latin America. In Peru, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia and Panama, weak economies and rising crime have reshaped voter priorities, allowing once-fringe hard-right candidates to gain traction by promising crackdowns amid a global rise of rightwing nationalism.
De La Espriella could push through some of his policies via decree, but analysts say many of his proposals will require backing from a divided congress and could be watered down in negotiations.
The new president vowed to “definitively eradicate the scourge of illicit crops”, saying he would use aerial herbicides that did not harm human health or the environment to destroy coca, the plant used to make cocaine. In one of his first acts as president, Colombia would join the Shield of the Americas program founded by Trump, he said.
Before his inauguration, he held bilateral meetings with the king of Spain and the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay and Panama. Also attending was Gianni Infantino, the embattled head of Fifa, football’s world governing body, while the US sent a delegation headed by the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche.
De La Espriella has blamed former president Gustavo Petro, who has not recognised the new president’s victory, for an expansion of armed groups, and narrowly defeated leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda – a Petro ally – in the runoff.
Cepeda led a morning march on Friday in Barranquilla, where he told demonstrators that the country’s opposition would work to defend democracy and called for peaceful civil disobedience.
With Reuters
