By Ingrid "Shortwave" Frost
BOGOTÁ — Abelardo De La Espriella, 48, was sworn in Friday as Colombia's president, replacing leftist Gustavo Petro and continuing a rightward swing across Latin American politics, according to Al Jazeera. In his inaugural speech he promised a "profound transformation" of the country's destiny, vowing to fight armed groups and drug trafficking while shrinking the state by as much as 40%, The Guardian reports.
The U.S. State Department announced it will provide $1bn in security assistance to the new government, the Guardian reported, a swift show of support from Washington for a leader widely described as a Trump ally. De La Espriella won June's runoff election narrowly, per Al Jazeera, and has pledged to revive Colombia's oil and gas sector alongside the security crackdown.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino attended the inauguration and received backing from South American football's governing bodies while there, Al Jazeera reports — a footnote overshadowed elsewhere by Norway's football federation publicly calling for Infantino's resignation, though the two items are not confirmed to be connected.
What the $1bn buys, and what "crushing" narco-terrorism will look like on the ground, remains to be seen. Petro's government pursued a negotiated approach to Colombia's armed groups with mixed results; De La Espriella has signaled a harder line. Readers should note: the scale and conditions of the U.S. aid package, and how quickly it will be disbursed, have not yet been detailed by either government.
FILED FROM SOMEWHERE WITH BAD COFFEE —
— Compiled from reporting by Al Jazeera and The Guardian.
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