It's a New Day for Colombia and the Entire Western Hemisphere
Just to recap, Colombia held elections for president in May, with run-offs in June, and Abelardo de la Espriella, aka "El Tigre" or "The Tiger," won against Petro's hand-picked left-wing candidate, Ivan Cepeda. El Tigre is a lawyer and businessman who has never held a political office in his life and was considered the "outsider." Sound familiar? He describes himself as a big fan of Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele of El Salvador and promises to govern much as they do. He also received President Trump's endorsement.
Here's a look at Colombia's beautiful new first family.
Here's what Colombia looked like on Thursday night. I believe this is in Medellín.
Now, here's what you need to know about all of this and why it matters here in the United States:
El Tigre's inauguration took place at Arena USC (Universidad Santiago de Cali), which is quite the departure from a typical Colombian presidential transition that would normally take place in Bogotá, the country's capital. He initially wanted to do it at a military garrison in Cauca as a deliberate signal of force against drug-funded armed groups that plague the region and to signal a break from Petro’s stupid "Total Peace" negotiating approach that ended up bringing about less peace and more narcos and violence.
One of Petro's final moves in office was to block El Tigre's use of a military facility, so he chose the arena in Cali instead, framing it as a signal of decentralization of the national government. It's a historic move, as it's the first modern inauguration to take place outside of Bogotá, with the exception of Rafael Núñez, who couldn't travel due to poor health. The city of Cali may be the most secure place on the planet right now. It's on lockdown with at least 11,100 public forces.
Meanwhile, Petro, who has been crying fraud since the elections took place, refused to attend or shake de la Espriella's hand, stepped away from office pretty calmly on Friday. He's spent the past week calling for groups of citizens to stand up and form militias and calling civil disobedience rallies. That said, on Friday, he walked away from Casa de Nariño, flanked by two of his six children, and mocked those who said he would try to cling to power. What he will do next is anyone's guess, but I have a feeling it will at least include more time on X and illegal substances. Just saying...
One of Petro's final moves in office was to block El Tigre's use of a military facility, so he chose the arena in Cali instead, framing it as a signal of decentralization of the national government. It's a historic move, as it's the first modern inauguration to take place outside of Bogotá, with the exception of Rafael Núñez, who couldn't travel due to poor health. The city of Cali may be the most secure place on the planet right now. It's on lockdown with at least 11,100 public forces.
Meanwhile, Petro, who has been crying fraud since the elections took place, refused to attend or shake de la Espriella's hand, stepped away from office pretty calmly on Friday. He's spent the past week calling for groups of citizens to stand up and form militias and calling civil disobedience rallies. That said, on Friday, he walked away from Casa de Nariño, flanked by two of his six children, and mocked those who said he would try to cling to power. What he will do next is anyone's guess, but I have a feeling it will at least include more time on X and illegal substances. Just saying...
But back to El Tigre's moment. Several prominent people attended, and you may notice a theme here: Argentine President Javier Milei, King Felipe VI of Spain, President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, President Santiago Peña of Paraguay, President José Raúl Mulino of Panama, President Nasry Asfura of Honduras, President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic, President José Antonio Kast of Chile, Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas of Curaçao, Vice President Félix Ulloa of El Salvador, and Vice President Karin Herrera of Guatemala.
With a few exceptions, these are some of the conservative and center-right leaders from the region, many newly elected in the last year or two. It sent a strong political message.
The United States also sent a strong message. Initially, I heard rumors that Marco Rubio himself would attend. Instead, the Trump administration sent a delegation that was led by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Others included were Hugo Guevara (Charge d’Affaires, U.S. Embassy Bogotá); Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) National Security/State subcommittee chair, longtime Latin America hardliner; Sara Carter (ONDCP Director); Terrance C. Cole (DEA Administrator); Cliff Sims (National Security Advisor to VP JD Vance); Viviana Bovo (Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Western Hemisphere Affairs, State); Joseph M. Humire (Deputy Assistant Secretary of War/Defense for Americas Security Affairs); Kristopher D. Jarvis (Chief of International Operations, Joint Task Force Vulcan, DOJ — transnational crime focus).
Initially, I was shocked that we didn't send a more diplomatic team, but I realized this is the FAFO team. These people largely represent law enforcement, drugs, and security. This delegation sends a message that we will back the new president's hardline stance against crime and violence. It sends a message to the FARC Dissidents, the ELN, Clan del Golfo, and the other narcos and terrorist organizations that their time is up.
One of our readers who is a U.S. military veteran and who currently lives in Colombia told me that all of the military folks he knows down there "can't wait to go kick cartel and terrorist butt." They won't be waiting much longer.
El Tigre — wait, that's President de la Espriella now — has promised an emphasis on executive decrees rather than waiting on the divided Colombian Congress to act on day one, and they will be largely security-based. He's launching a Defense Bloc with specialized police units and coordination with the mayors of some of the country's largest cities. It'll target homicides, extortion, and organized crime. He's also giving the illegal armed groups a very short window to surrender before he unleashes all hell against them. He's also preparing to build Salvadoran-style mega-prisons, with Bukele's help, so all of these bad guys will have a place to stay locked away from the good people of Colombia and the rest of the Americas.
Additionally, he plans to sever diplomatic relations with Cuba and Nicaragua, and he's reestablishing ties with Israel and strengthening ties with the U.S. Economically, he hopes to revive oil and gas activity, perform technical audits of Petro-era contracts and spending, and offer a generally market-friendly posture that has been welcomed by investors.
Colombia and the United States have a decent relationship, beyond Petro, but it's about to get much better, and we now have a new partner for fighting crime in our region. What a time to be alive. Congratulations to Colombia and its new president.
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