CALI, Colombia — Abelardo De La Espriella, a right-wing attorney who had never been elected to public office before, took the oath of office on Friday at the Santiago de Cali University, a private university in southwestern Colombia.
De La Espriella, 48, who promised a “Homeland Miracle,” delivered his first speech as the president of Colombia in southern Cali, at the Pichincha Battalion, one of the country’s most historic army units.
“I do not believe in assemblies convened to alter the rules of the Republic, prolong the exercise of power, or remake institutions at the whim of those who govern,” De La Espriella said during his 75-minute speech.
Gustavo Petro, the outgoing left-wing president who did not attend the ceremony in Cali, had aimed to convene an assembly to change Colombia’s 1991 Constitution and failed.
“My government will never attack or challenge judges,” De La Espriella said. “I will respect the independence of each branch of government.”
De La Espriella accused Petro, who had exited the presidential Casa de Nariño on Friday in Bogotá, of mocking democracy, dividing the country, and ruling for the FARC, a communist guerrilla that divided into factions after a 2016 peace accord.
“I think that people have the feeling that the previous government, in trying to negotiate with criminal organizations and insurgent groups, they basically allowed them to grow,” said Sandra Borda, an associate professor of political science at the University of the Andes in Bogotá.
To start his fight against crime, De La Espriella, who campaigned as “The Tiger,” announced that his administration was preparing to issue a list of “narcoterrorist” groups.
“One of my first acts of government will be to sign the Shield of the Americas,” De La Espriella, who holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship, said during his speech about President Donald Trump’s America’s Counter-Cartel Coalition, or ACCC, an alliance against narcoterrorism.
De La Espriella also promised “Colombia’s heroes,” the nation’s military and law enforcement, with “legal safeguards” to ensure that they would not be persecuted for carrying out their duties.
“Under my administration, mega-prisons will be built to house those who pose the greatest threat to the people’s safety,” said De La Espriella, an admirer of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and his massive anti-gang crackdown.
De La Espriella warned growers of coca plants that his administration planned to increase herbicide spraying. He said the chemicals to “eradicate” the illicit crops won’t harm humans or affect the environment.
De La Espriella also promised fiscal responsibility and announced that he planned on signing a decree to “freeze” public spending.
“The outgoing administration drove excessive spending growth, fueled by borrowing,” De La Espriella said. “That weakened national finances. Before undertaking the major transformations Colombia needs, we must put our house in order. That will be my government’s first duty.”
De La Espriella said he will authorize “responsible and sustainable” fracking to extract oil and natural gas, while “adhering to the highest” technical and environmental standards, to restore Ecopetrol, the country’s largest petroleum company.
“I believe in the energy transition,” De La Espriella said about a long-term goal to move away from fracking. “I am convinced that we must move toward increasingly clean, efficient, and diversified energy sources, but this transition must be built from a position of strength, not weakness.”
De La Esprialla said his administration was also ready to present a structural overhaul of the tax system.
“The wealth tax will be eliminated,” the president said. “We must stop penalizing those who create jobs.”
De La Espriella’s guests included acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Spain’s King Felipe VI, Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Chilean President José Antonio Kast, Dominican President Luis Abinader, and FIFA’s Gianni Infantino.
“I will be the president of all Colombians — those who honored me with their vote and those who placed their trust in other political options,” De La Espriella said. “Those who did not believe in my proposal will find, through my actions, proof that this project serves the common good.”
Related videos
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
