Colombia President-Elect Gives Guerrillas One Month to Surrender

Colombia’s president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, has given the country’s guerrilla groups one month to surrender.

De la Espriella gave the declaration on Thursday, taking a tough stance on an issue that helped secure his victory.

He won the tightly fought presidential election by less than a percentage point as Colombia endures its highest levels of violence in a decade on Sunday.

He called his win at the polls an “epic triumph” during his speech.

“To all those acting outside the law, you have one month to arrange your submission. In my administration, there will be no generous offers or unacceptable concessions,” the millionaire lawyer said in his first speech since official results confirmed his electoral win.

Colombia’s Guerrilla groups. Credit: LA Times.

During the campaign, he disclosed to AFP that he wanted to conduct bombing campaigns against guerrillas and construct “mega-prisons” like those of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele.

De la Espriella‘s victory marks the end of Colombia’s first-ever leftist government led by President Gustavo Petro.

Defeated leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda has warned that the left will resort to “peaceful civil disobedience” if necessary, while distancing himself from post-election violence following Sunday’s results.

Also, De la Espriella plans to forge a military alliance with the United States and Israel to achieve his aims.

In an X post on Wednesday, he said Colombia and Israel will share a relationship “like never before” after speaking with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

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