Lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in this Friday as president of Colombia for the 2026-2030 term, in an inauguration ceremony held in a university auditorium in Cali, the capital of the Valle del Cauca department – in the southwest of the country -, from which outgoing president Gustavo Petro and the former candidate for the Historic Pact, Iván Cepeda, were absent.
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“I swear to God and promise the people to faithfully comply with the Constitution and the laws of Colombia”, said the far-right leader as he took the oath before the president of Congress, Honorio Henríquez, who then placed the presidential sash on him.
At that moment, Army soldiers fired 21 cannon salutes with the colors of the Colombian flag from the José María Córdova Military Cadet School, located in Bogotá, and the now acting president received the affectionate greeting of his family and the applause of those present at the USC Arena of the Santiago de Cali University.
The ceremony was attended by the President of Chile, José Antonio Kast; the King of Spain, Felipe VI; the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Ecuador, Daniel Noboa; and other leaders, such as the Foreign Minister of Bolivia, Héctor Huanca.
Hours before De la Espriella was sworn in as president in Cali, the former candidate Iván Cepeda announced from the city of Barranquilla a “Cabinet of Life” to oppose “from reason” the policies of the new Colombian president.
Before hundreds of people, Cepeda specified that this “cabinet” has the mission “to counter with solid arguments and information the policies of the” far-right Executive that took office this Friday.
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Likewise, this opposition seeks “to advance and deepen as much as possible the social reforms that we will not allow to be taken away from the people.”
“We will not respond to hatred with hatred, nor to authoritarianism with violence. We will respond with the strength of reason, with citizen mobilization, with popular organization, and with hope”, said the senator.
“The peaceful civil disobedience that is beginning to express itself today constitutes a democratic response to what we consider a serious threat to the Republic. It will be a disobedience inspired by the Constitution, by the principles of non-violence and by the unwavering defense of human dignity,” he declared accompanied by deputies of the Historic Pact.
During his speech, Cepeda also reiterated that he does not recognize the legitimacy of De la Espriella to preside over the country, stating that he will be an “agent at the service of the interests of the United States”, which represents an “insurmountable incompatibility” with the duty to represent the sovereignty and interests of Colombia.
“The oath he will take in a few hours is an act that will formalize the submission of our independence to the will and domination of the United States government,” he added, evoking the elected president’s ties with Alex Saab, whom he was a lawyer for, and with paramilitary groups.
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