President Abelardo de la Espriella means business when it comes to his war against the cartels.
asserted
it → mean → cartels
Colombia's new president, known by the nickname of ‘El Tigre’, was voted in on a law and order ticket and so far his actions in fighting the cartels are seemingly paying dividends — not just in Colombia but in Washington too.
asserted
actions → know → Washington
Recently, he arrived at the Barranquilla police command around the early hours of the morning as 587 police officers and soldiers raided 50 locations across the Caribbean port city and its suburbs in Operation Blindaje 360.
asserted
officers → arrive → Blindaje
A few days earlier, domestic Colombian news outlets had widely publicized a recording intercepted by Colombian police of "Keko", the alleged leader of a gang called "Los del Freseo" boasting that de la Espirella had nothing on him.
asserted
Espirella → publicize → him
"The Tiger's got nothing.
asserted
Tiger → get → nothing
Let him come out, and we'll put lead in him," Keko allegedly said on the recording.
uncertain
Keko → let → recording
Then, before dawn, Colombia's president had tracked him down and was face to face with him, all caught on tape.
asserted
all → track → tape
According to a video released by his presidential office, El Tigre told Keko the gang leader was "a tough guy on the phone… but the look of the fear on his face matched that of his many victims".
uncertain
look → accord → victims
The sweep ended with 72 arrests.
asserted
sweep → end → arrests
The theatrics played to a large audience who long argued that former leftist Gustavo Petros’s policy of pursuing engagement with drug traffickers and through conversation and peace talks had left Colombia more vulnerable to organized crime and further articulation between Colombian and Venezuelan cartels that had been dominating the space left by the power vacuum which emerged from effective law-enforcement control.
asserted
which → play → control
His government is also seeking to reverse former President Gustavo Petro’s "total peace" policy, which pursued negotiations with several armed organizations.
asserted
which → seek → organizations
Before taking office, de la Espriella announced that he would dismantle key elements of the policy and reactivate arrest warrants against members of illegal armed groups.
asserted
he → take → groups
Nearly three months into his term, the 48-year-old lawyer has scrapped his leftist predecessor's "total peace" talks, ordered every armed group treated as a terrorist organization and claims more than 32,000 arrests.
uncertain
group → scrap → arrests
He is doing it arm in arm with Washington.
asserted
He → do → Washington
A dual U.S.-Colombian citizen who lived in Miami before running for president, he has brought Colombia into President Donald Trump's anti-cartel coalition.
asserted
he → live → coalition
Last month, he personally handed a guerrilla boss accused of supplying Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel to DEA agents with his hands and feet shackled.
asserted
hands → hand → agents
The prisoner, Geovany Andrés Rojas, alias "Araña," is alleged to have led the "Comandos de la Frontera" dissidents and now faces narco-terrorism charges in Southern California.
asserted
prisoner → allege → California
"The option of dialogue is completely exhausted," de la Espriella told troops after his Aug. 7 inauguration.
asserted
Espriella → exhaust → inauguration
In an Oct. 12 address, he put the tally at 32,503 arrests, 33 ringleaders taken out of action and 679 drug-production sites destroyed or disabled.
asserted
sites → put → action
He has signed more than 100 extradition orders, including five for former armed-group peace negotiators wanted in the U.S. whose handovers the previous government had frozen.
asserted
government → sign → handovers
The offensive reaches deep into the countryside, where conflict monitor ACLED counted August as the deadliest month for clashes between security forces and armed groups since it began tracking Colombia in 2018.
asserted
it → reach → 2018
In late August he warned FARC dissident chief Iván Mordisco: "When you least expect it, a bomb is going to fall on you."
asserted
bomb → warn → you
Two days later, he walked among the bagged bodies of 23 suspected dissidents at an army base in Guaviare, and troops killed the top commander of a paramilitary-rooted trafficking group in La Guajira.
asserted
troops → walk → Guajira
Colombia became the 19th member of Trump's Shield of the Americas coalition in August, and War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Bogotá had authorized "joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terror networks domestically."
asserted
Bogotá → become → terrorists
The administration has pledged $1 billion in security aid, pending congressional approval, and Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, has toured Colombian bases.
asserted
Donovan → pledge → bases
However, speaking on-camera to Fox News Digital, Colombian Vice President José Manuel Restrepo said while his country is embracing President Donald Trump’s push for a new security alliance across the Western Hemisphere, he drew a clear line on the role American forces would play inside Colombia, saying Colombian troops — not U.S. forces — will carry out operations against the country’s armed groups.
asserted
troops → speak → groups
According to Benjamin Gedan, a senior fellow and director of the Latin America Program at the Stimson Center in Washington who previously served as a South America Director in the White House, the last few years were an outlier:
uncertain
years → accord → House
"For decades, the United States and Colombia closely cooperated to fight guerrillas and organized crime.
asserted
States → cooperate → guerrillas
Plan Colombia was celebrated by both Republicans and Democrats.
asserted
Colombia → celebrate → Republicans
The Colombian military is well-trained and battle-tested.
asserted
military → train → ?
Renewed close cooperation between Bogotá and Washington is a cornerstone of the renewed U.S. focus on security in Latin America," he said.
asserted
he → renew → America
"Still, flashy military strikes on criminal targets will not answer the mail.
asserted
strikes → answer → mail
These groups are well-armed, well-funded, and thrive in regions with little state presence.
asserted
groups → arm → presence
Images of criminals in body bags may give the impression of forward progress after the failed strategy of Colombia’s last leader, much as videos of exploding speedboats have become the calling card of the Shield of the Americas.
uncertain
videos → give → Americas
In both cases, a more sophisticated strategy is needed to deal lasting blows to criminal groups," Gedan argued.
asserted
Gedan → need → groups
Oscar Palma, a professor of Security Studies at the University of Rosario in Bogotá, said it is still a little too early to assess the change in policies and affirm they will be fruitful within the Colombian context.
asserted
they → say → context
"Beyond the policing acts themselves, there is the subjective feeling of security with debates within Colombian society on whether this open war strategy brings more or less security to the population.
asserted
strategy → be → population
Many argue that the gangs are acting now more forcefully to defend their territories and business deals, while others believe that a strong police presence will eventually lead to less organized crime."
asserted
presence → argue → crime
Palma said there is a false dichotomy between having to choose all-out war or dialogue in order to achieve peace with groups such as the FARC and other gang leaders:
asserted
Palma → say → FARC
"It is a fiction that you will come to zero combatants simply pursuing one strategy or the other—all-out war will never zero down those combating in the FARC and organized crime just as peace talks, especially if carried out in a misguided policy such as the one led by [Gustavo] Petros, will achieve real results."
asserted
talks → come → results
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
