U.S. pledges $1 billion in security assistance to Colombia as new president vows to “defeat narco-terrorism”

The United States pledged $1 billion in security assistance to Colombia after its new right-wing president took office. 

Abelardo de la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer with a taste for spectacle, took office Friday for his four-year term after a campaign focused on anger and fears about security.

“As a cornerstone of this renewed partnership, the United States, working with Congress, intends to announce $1 billion in assistance as part of a security package to support President (Abelardo) de la Espriella’s administration in achieving our shared goals,” the statement said.

De la Espriella earned President Trump’s endorsement despite never having run for office.

De la Espriella now has grand plans to crush armed insurgents, cozy up to the U.S. and overhaul the system. In his first speech upon taking office, he pledged to “relentlessly defeat narco-terrorism,” adding that “the option of dialogue is completely exhausted” — a reference to the former administration’s spluttering peace talks with guerrillas.

After four years of diplomatic spats with the U.S., Mr. Trump now has an eager ally in Bogota. Colombia has been the United States’ top ally in counternarcotics and one of its most important trade partners in the Western Hemisphere. However, that relationship took a sharp turn during former President Gustavo Petro’s administration, the first leftist president in the country’s history.

Petro’s administration promoted a paradigm shift in the fight against drug trafficking and unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate peace with armed groups. Colombian voters then turned to a political outsider after years of failed peace negotiations and violence made their communities more dangerous.

De la Espriella, who holds dual U.S. and Colombian citizenship, has adopted a military salute as his signature move.

He has offered to host U.S. troops on Colombian soil and wants to bomb jungle cocaine labs, build “mega-prisons” and slash the size of the state.