Colombia will become the latest country to join a US-led anti-cartel alliance known as the "Shield of the Americas," the nation’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella announced on July 21. The alliance, which includes pro-US administrations in Latin America such as those in Ecuador, Argentina, and El Salvador, focuses on combating organized crime and drug trafficking in the region.
De la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer and political figure on the hard right, is set to assume office on August 7. He has promised a stringent approach toward armed groups and plans to strengthen military partnerships with both the United States and Israel to support his anti-crime agenda. As part of these efforts, Colombia will host a regional office for the Shield of the Americas alliance in Medellin, a city historically linked to cocaine trafficking.
De la Espriella described Medellin as "the head of the snake of drug trafficking and organized crime." The city gained notoriety in the 1980s and 1990s as the bastion of the late drug lord Pablo Escobar, experiencing some of the highest violence rates globally during that period. Despite Escobar’s demise, criminal organizations with international connections remain active in the city today.
Ecuador welcomed the development, with Interior Minister John Reimberg signaling plans for joint military operations against organized crime from the start of de la Espriella’s administration. Reimberg emphasized that the forthcoming change in Colombia’s leadership would open new channels for cooperation after years of frustration with the outgoing government.
Under the previous leftist administration of Gustavo Petro, Colombia did not participate in the Shield of the Americas alliance. Petro’s government was criticized by neighboring countries, including Ecuador, for insufficient efforts in combating drug trafficking along shared borders. Relations between Colombia and the United States, traditionally close on security matters, were strained during Petro’s tenure, culminating in US sanctions against him at one point. However, recent months have seen a partial rapprochement between Washington and Bogotá.
De la Espriella narrowly won June’s presidential runoff by less than one percentage point, campaigning on ending Petro’s "total peace" policy, which involved negotiations with guerrilla groups. His administration intends to reverse this policy and implement harsher measures such as constructing large-scale "mega-prisons" and using pesticides to eradicate coca crops, signaling a more military-focused approach to the longstanding drug and security challenges facing Colombia.