Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella took office Friday, vowing to wage war on drug-running guerrillas and usher in a new era of close ties with the United States.
The flamboyant former lawyer brings a lurch to the right for the Andean nation, vowing to bomb jungle cocaine labs, build “mega-prisons” and slash the size of the state.
De la Espriella and his Vice President Jose Manuel Restrepo cheered, embraced and performed their campaign’s characteristic military salute after taking their respective oaths.
After four years of diplomatic spats with the United States, President Donald Trump now has a keen ally in Bogota.
The 48-year-old president, 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 took place in the tropical southwestern city of Cali, Colombia’s salsa capital, not at Congress in
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