Arizona Tribune - Hardline Trump ally De la Espriella to take office in Colombia

The flamboyant former lawyer brings a lurch to the right for the leftist-ruled Andean nation -- vowing to bomb jungle cocaine labs, build "mega-prisons" and slash the size of the state.

After four years of diplomatic spats with the United States, President Donald Trump will now have a keen ally in Bogota.

The 48-year-old President-elect, who holds dual US and Colombian citizenship, has offered to launch joint military operations and even host US troops on Colombian soil.

In a break with tradition, his inauguration will take place in the tropical southwestern city of Cali, Colombia's salsa capital, not at Congress in more buttoned-down Bogota.

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.

Infantino arrived in Cali with the head of South American football federation CONMEBOL, photos published by Colombia's federation showed.

The inauguration will also be attended by powerful right-wing figures, including Argentina's President Javier Milei and Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump's acting attorney general, who will head a delegation filled with anti-drug policy officials.

- Former guerrilla hot spot -

Cali has been the scene of several guerrilla pipe bomb attacks in the last few years. Pockets of the countryside to the south of the city are still controlled by armed groups.

The authorities are launching a massive security campaign to protect the event, with 11,000 troops deployed, as well as an anti-drone system.

De la Espriella's narrow victory in a June runoff ended four years of Colombia's first-ever leftist government.

"We are beginning a new era!" he declared in his victory speech, after beating leftist rival Ivan Cepeda by less than a percentage point.

Supporters hope De la Espriella will bring an iron fist when tackling crime and dissident armed groups, after years of spluttering peace talks.

Calling himself "The Tiger," and promising to be "firm for the homeland," Colombia's incoming leader regularly uses a military salute and has embraced military motifs.

"For Colombia I think it's going to be good. We have to support him so there won't be so much crime," said German Angulo, a 63-year-old contractor.

"We need a complete change," he told AFP.

- Rightward lurch -

Outgoing leftist leader Gustavo Petro tried and failed to negotiate peace with the country's myriad armed groups.

Experts say the gangs -- once ideological but now focused on making money from cocaine trafficking and other illicit trades -- used Petro's truces as cover to grow.

Petro is not going quietly. He has called for mass protests in major cities during the inauguration and claimed election fraud, without evidence.

But for the right in the Americas, De la Espriella's victory is yet another notch in the belt after electoral wins from Chile to Costa Rica on the back of security promises.

The incoming leader has announced plans to sever ties with leftist administrations in Nicaragua and Cuba, both of which he called "tyrannies."

- Plan Colombia -

De la Espriella plans to forge a military alliance with the United States and Israel to aid his war on guerrillas.

His so-called "Plan Colombia II" is named in a nod to a multimillion-dollar agreement with Washington in the 2000s aimed at combatting drug cartels and leftist groups.

"You can tell he's going to be kind of a strong hand. I just hope there won't be renewed violence," street vendor Oscar Obando, 67, told AFP.

Although the original "Plan Colombia" succeeded in weakening key combat groups, it also led to allegations of serious human rights breaches.

B.Torres--AT