Car bomb attack rocks southwestern Colombia following new president's inauguration

Authorities have reported a car bomb attack in southwestern Colombia, one day after far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as president.

The country’s military alleged that the Saturday attack was carried out by two armed groups that splintered from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a former rebel group that disarmed after a peace deal with the government in 2016.

Authorities say the attack targeted a toll plaza on the Pan-American Highway in the coastal department of Cauca, in the west of the country.

Two security guards reportedly suffered minor injuries in the explosion, which a witness said was carried out by an individual who left his car behind, then escaped the scene via motorcycle.

The administration of President de la Espriella quickly pledged a stern response to the car bombing.

“Colombia will not kneel before violence, nor will it allow the destruction of the infrastructure that connects our regions,” Minister of Transportation Elsa Noguera said in a social media post responding to the bombing.

She proceeded to reference de la Espriella’s inaugural speech, wherein he pledged to “defeat narco-terrorism” and tamp down criminal activity.

“As President Abelardo de la Espriella said yesterday, the time for restoring order has begun,” Noguera added. “We will recover security, control of our territories, and the peace of mind of Colombians.”

The hardline president, who was inaugurated on Friday, had campaigned for office on a promise to lead a crackdown on Colombia’s armed groups.

For more than six decades, Colombia has contended with an internal armed conflict between right-wing paramilitaries, left-wing rebels, government forces and criminal networks. The country is also the world’s largest producer of coca, the raw ingredient used to produce cocaine as well as traditional Andean medicines.

De la Espriella, a political newcomer, will join a handful of other right-wing figures across Latin America who successfully capitalised on concerns over crime and insecurity to win office.

But he is likely to face challenges addressing those deeply entrenched issues during the four years of his term. Colombian presidents are not eligible for re-election.

De la Espriella narrowly defeated his leftist opponent, Senator Ivan Cepeda, in a June run-off election that saw the two candidates separated by less than 1 percent of the vote.

The right-wing leader has said he would end the “Total Peace” approach of his predecessor, former President Gustavo Petro, who became Colombia’s first-ever left-wing leader in 2022.

The “Total Peace” plan hinged on fostering dialogue with armed groups, though Petro did use military force as well.

By contrast, de la Espriella has pledged to return Colombia to a more militarised approach, saying in his inaugural speech that the option of dialogue was “exhausted”.

He has received support from United States President Donald Trump, whose administration has promised $1bn in security aid after a period of tense relations with Petro.

The Trump administration has sought to expand US military involvement across Latin America in the name of combatting crime and narcotics trafficking.

It has also encouraged right-wing leaders across the region to embrace more hardline tactics in their efforts to stem criminal activity.

De la Espriella, for example, has pledged to bomb boats and planes suspected of carrying illicit drugs, in line with a similar campaign undertaken by Trump in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Those tactics, however, have raised concern from rights groups who warn of the potential for rights abuses by government forces.