Colombia will host an office belonging to US President Donald Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” initiative, the South American country’s hard-right president-elect announced.
The world’s largest cocaine producer, Colombia is currently not a member of the anti-cartel alliance made up of pro-US administrations across Latin America. Under president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, however, it is due to join the ranks of Trump-allied countries including Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador.
The millionaire lawyer will take office on August 7 and has pledged to crack down on armed groups, partly by forging military partnerships with the United States and Israel.
He has also vowed to join the Shield of the Americas and said Colombia would host an alliance office in the northwestern city of Medellin.
De la Espriella called the city “the head of the snake of drug trafficking and organized crime” in a statement to the press.
Medellin was the former stronghold of late cocaine baron Pablo Escobar and became one of the most violent cities in the world in the 1980s and 1990s due to his war on the state.
Drug traffickers with links to international criminal organizations continue to operate in the city. Colombia did not participate in Trump’s anti-drugs initiative under outgoing leftist leader Gustavo Petro, with Brazil and Mexico also opting out.
Washington and Bogota’s historically strong relationship went through a rough patch as the ideologically opposed leaders butted heads over how to deal with drug trafficking. Petro was subjected to US sanctions at one point, but the pair have mended their relationship in recent months.
De la Espriella won June’s presidential runoff by less than a percentage point and has vowed to dismantle his predecessor’s “total peace” strategy of negotiating with guerrilla groups. He also wants to build so-called “mega-prisons” and use pesticides to eradicate coca crops. (AFP)
