Colombia's new right-wing President Abelardo De La Espriella was sworn in on Friday (August 7), using his inaugural speech to pledge a vigorous fight against drug trafficking, and the coca crops.

De La Espriella, 48, won June's runoff on promises to crack down on armed groups, shrink the state by as much as 40% and revive the oil and gas sector. An ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, he represented people with ties to right-wing paramilitaries during his time as a lawyer. De La Espriella has never before held elected office.

Speaking at Pichincha Battalion military base in Cali after being sworn in at a nearby university auditorium with dignitaries and officials, De La Espriella used his inaugural speech to threaten criminals.

"There will not be a single place in our territory where criminals can feel safe," he said.

The new president vowed to "definitively eradicate the scourge of illicit crops," saying he would use aerial herbicides that do not harm human health or the environment to destroy coca, the plant used to make cocaine.

De La Espriella ruled out convening a constituent assembly, saying he did not believe in bodies formed to change the rules of the republic or prolong power.

De La Espriella's election was part of a rightward shift rippling across Latin America. In Peru, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia and Panama, weak economies and rising crime have reshaped voter priorities, allowing once-fringe hard-right candidates to gain traction by promising crackdowns amid a global rise of right-wing nationalism.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

CALI, COLOMBIA (AUGUST 7, 2026) (ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA - Access all)

1. MILITARY PERSONNEL DURING COLOMBIA’S PRESIDENT ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA’S SPEECH

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA, SAYING:

"In the Tiger's government, all the rules of democracy will be respected, there will be no room for manoeuvres that threaten the stability of the nation or the legitimate exercise of the mandate that begins today."

3. TROOPS DURING PRESIDENT'S SPEECH

4. SOLDIER IN FRONT OF TROOPS

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT #4, CONTINUES OVER SHOTS OF DE LA ESRPRIELLA SPEAKING AND TROOPS LISTENING AND ENDS OVER GENERAL SHOT OF DE LA ESPRIELLA ON STAGE)

"There will not be a single place in our territory where criminals can feel safe. I make my own the words of Winston Churchill: Victory at all costs, victory in spite of terror, victory however long and hard the road may be, because without victory there is no survival."

6. MILITARY PERSONNEL LISTENING TO SPEECH

7. TROOPS DURING PRESIDENT'S SPEECH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF TROOPS IN FORMATION LISTENING TO SPEECH, CONTINUES OVER DIFFERENT SHOTS OF TROOPS LISTENING AND DE LA ESPRIELLA SPEAKING AT LECTERN, AND ENDS OVER SHOT OF TROOPS LISTENING)

"The eradication of illicit crops by all means will be possible, it is a national priority. Coca is not fought with dressed-up statistics or manipulated maps, but by pulling it out of the earth where today it feeds violence and crime. I will implement fumigation with latest-generation herbicides that do not cause harm to human health, do not contravene the mandate of the honourable constitutional court and do not affect the environment in any way. The time has come to definitively eradicate the scourge of illicit crops. Coca has brought death, corruption and destruction, it has destroyed our jungles, displaced our peasants and has been the fuel for narco-terrorism."

9. TROOPS DURING PRESIDENT'S SPEECH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, ABELARDO DE LA ESPRIELLA, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE STARTS OVER SHOT OF DE LA ESRPIELLA AT LECTERN SPEAKING AND ENDS OVER SHOT OF MILITARY VEHICLE AND TROOPS IN FORMATION DURING EVENT)

"In my government, no path will be opened to a constituent assembly of any nature. I do not believe in assemblies called to alter the rules of the republic, prolong the exercise of power or remake the institutions at the whim of those who govern."

11. MILITARY PERSONNEL DURING SPEECH BY DE LA ESPRIELLA

12. (NIGHT SHOT) TROOPS IN FRONT OF STAGE

13. (NIGHT SHOT) DE LA ESPRIELLA IN FRONT OF MILITARY TROOPS

14. (NIGHT SHOT) MILITARY BAND

15. (NIGHT SHOT) VARIOUS OF DE LA ESPRIELLA SAYING GOODBYE TO SENIOR MILITARY COMMANDERS

16. (NIGHT SHOT) MILITARY TROOPS IN FORMATION DURING PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION EVENT