Bombing attacks mark first day of Colombia's new right-wing government

Santander de Quilichao, Colombia - Two bombing attacks in different parts of Colombia on Aug 8 marked the first day in office for new President Abelardo de la Espriella, leaving at least one police officer dead and several wounded.

The tough-talking hard-right leader campaigned on confronting “narcoterrorism without truce” and ending peace talks with armed groups following his inauguration on Aug 7 in the southwestern city of Cali.

Colombia’s army said FARC guerilla dissidents used explosives to destroy a highway tollbooth near Cali in the early hours of Aug 8, with two security guards suffering minor injuries.

Rebels under the command of Ivan Morodisco, Colombia’s most wanted guerilla commander, operate in the area surrounding the tollbooth, which was under construction on the Pan-American highway in the Santander de Quilichao municipality.

Morodisco leads dissidents who broke away from the historic 2016 peace agreement between the FARC and Colombia’s government.

De la Espriella condemned the bombing on social media on Aug 8, saying “attacking the country’s infrastructure is attacking progress” in an X post.

“To those responsible, I send a clear message: there will be no refuge, no leniency and no impunity,” he added.

‘Will not go unpunished’

About 1,000km away, in the northern department of Cesar, an officer was killed in another bombing early on Aug 8 when an explosive-equipped drone struck a police station, officials there said.

Authorities there have not yet identified suspects, but De la Espriella vowed whoever is responsible “will not go unpunished.”

The confrontational style of the first-time political leader, who openly admires US President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, now faces tough opposition from the guerilla groups and drug traffickers operating in Colombia.

De la Espriella has promised to open mega-prisons like Bukele and to intensify bombing raids against guerilla groups and drug traffickers operating in Colombia, with support from the United States and Israel.

His inauguration comes during the worst wave of violence the country has experienced in the last decade.

A decade after landmark peace accords, pockets of Colombia are still ruled by dissident armed groups that dominate global cocaine production.

Roberto Sandoval, a firefighter who lives in the neighborhood next to the tollbooth, said tensions were high following the bombing.

“We are all on edge, very tense and nervous.”

Elsewhere in the neighborhood, windows shattered and left glass strewn on the bed of Sonia Zapata, a 68-year-old housewife.

She said she feels “very nervous, very afraid.” AFP