Conservative lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as Colombia’s president on Friday in Cali, using an inauguration outside the traditional setting of Bogota to underscore a hard-line approach toward armed groups active in the country’s volatile southwest.
The 48-year-old political newcomer succeeds Gustavo Petro after winning the June 21 runoff against Petro ally Senator Iván Cepeda, campaigning on promises to confront armed groups, reduce government spending and revive Colombia’s oil and gas industry.
His inauguration also extends a broader rightward political shift across Latin America.
Security dominated the ceremony at a university auditorium, with soldiers, armored vehicles and police checkpoints around the venue as authorities screened vehicles for suspects and explosives.
After taking office, de la Espriella planned to visit a military battalion in Cali and address troops, reinforcing his pledge to abandon Petro’s strategy of negotiations with armed organizations.
Dissident factions of the former FARC, the Clan del Golfo cartel and the National Liberation Army remain active in the southwest, where drug trafficking and illegal mining are contested.
De la Espriella has said armed groups must surrender or risk being treated as military targets.
He has also pledged to join the U.S.-backed “Shield of the Americas” coalition against drug trafficking.
The U.S. State Department said Washington intends, subject to congressional approval, to provide $1 billion in security assistance to his administration.
Petro initially challenged the election result with allegations of manipulated vote tallies, claims rejected by Colombian electoral authorities and international observers, but said Friday that he would respect the outcome.
He did not attend the inauguration.
Protests were held in Cali, Bogota and Barranquilla, including in Cali’s Puerto Resistencia neighborhood, a center of major antigovernment demonstrations in 2021.
De la Espriella, who received backing from U.S. President Donald Trump, has also promised to restore diplomatic relations with Israel while severing ties with Cuba and Nicaragua.
Attendees included Spain’s King Felipe VI, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Latin American leaders Javier Milei, Daniel Noboa and José Antonio Kast.