By Julia Symmes Cobb
BOGOTA, Aug 7 (Reuters) – Right-wing lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella is set to be sworn in as Colombia’s new president on Friday after pledging a hard line on security, drug trafficking and the economy.
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 well-known right-wing paramilitaries during his time as a lawyer. De La Espriella has never before held elected office.
His 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.
De La Espriella succeeds leftist Gustavo Petro as president after narrowly defeating leftist senator Ivan Cepeda in the runoff.
He is expected to use his inauguration speech to announce dozens of policy measures. De La Espriella could push through some policies via decree, but analysts say many of his proposals will require backing from a divided congress and could be watered down in negotiations.
De La Espriella has blamed Petro for an expansion of armed groups, and pledged to end stumbling peace talks, mount a tougher military response and build mega prisons. Petro has not recognized De La Espriella’s victory and has called for marches in major cities.
INAUGURATION IN CALI
De La Espriella will be the first president of Colombia to be sworn in at a location other than the country’s congressional building in the capital Bogota. His inauguration will instead take place in southwestern Cali amid a security lockdown.
The king of Spain and the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, among others, are expected to attend. The United States is sending a delegation headed by acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Investors have welcomed De La Espriella’s market-friendly agenda, but expectations for rapid change are tempered by fiscal constraints and high public debt.
The head of the stock exchange has called for simpler participation by foreign and retail investors, lower transaction costs, eliminating dividend taxes and increasing state-owned energy company Ecopetrol’s publicly traded shares to 20%. Oil and mining guilds are optimistic but say changes must come quickly if Colombia is to ramp up gas production and meet other pressing needs.
The new administration is likely to focus its first 100 days on steps that De La Espriella can take directly, consulting firm Colombia Risk Analysis said in a report on Thursday.
“Security and anti-corruption efforts will likely serve as the most visible pillars of early momentum, though largely through workarounds and partial measures rather than full-scale execution. Coca eradication is likely to proceed via aerial fumigation spraying by airplane and drone … alongside continued military pressure through bombings and raids,” the report said.
“Markets are likely to respond favorably in the short term (reflected in peso appreciation), but tax simplification and wealth tax elimination will likely reduce state revenue just as new spending needs emerge, especially if Colombians believe there’s a rollback of benefits from the Petro administration,” it added.
De La Espriella has leaned heavily on Vice President-elect Jose Manuel Restrepo, a former finance minister who traveled to Washington to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Other cabinet picks include Omar Bula, a former World Food Program official turned United Nations critic, as foreign minister; retired Major General Jorge Eduardo Mora as defense minister; electrical engineer Maria Arboleda as energy minister; and Miguel Gomez as finance minister.
Gomez has said the fiscal deficit stands at 7% to 8% of GDP, above outgoing government figures, and that the new administration will present a growth-focused tax reform.
(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; additional reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Will Dunham)
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