Abelardo de la Espriella, the far-right politician who has taken office as Colombia’s president, has completely reversed the “total peace” policy line promoted by the previous left-wing administration and is rapidly rolling out hardline measures. “total peace” aimed to negotiate with all of Colombia’s armed groups -estimated at nearly 30,000 people – and disarm them. However, the policy failed to produce results, and in June 2026 the administration lost power in the elections.

In his inauguration speech on August 7, 2026, de la Espriella reiterated that the “option of dialogue” with Colombia’s armed groups was over and declared it formally. On August 23, he ordered the extradition of five people wanted by the United States on drug trafficking charges. Former left-wing President Gustavo Petro had suspended their extradition on the grounds that they were “peace negotiators” or members of the negotiating teams.

In the early morning of August 24, the Colombian military carried out an airstrike on a camp controlled by one of the armed groups, killing eight combatants. The government states that this group is involved in extortion and drug trafficking. Furthermore, on August 29, the president issued nine executive decrees and formally shut down all dialogue frameworks with three major armed organizations.

The armed groups emerged in the 1960s as leftist forces resisting government oppression and seeking revolution. However, most of them turned to drug trafficking and illegal mining and became criminal organizations. They repeatedly clashed with one another over territorial control, leading to killings, kidnappings, and massacres.

The Petro administration sought disarmament through dialogue, but only 99 groups agreed to lay down their arms, and even that occurred just before the presidential runoff election in June. The administration lost public support, and the “total peace” line ended in failure.

De la Espriella is a wealthy lawyer and is close to U.S. President Donald Trump. His policy is to give no quarter to criminals, instead imprisoning or killing them, but it remains unclear how far this will go in curbing crime and violence. It is also being closely watched how groups currently considering disarmament will respond under a hostile government.

Learn more about the previous Colombian administration → “Colombia’s rapidly advancing reforms”

President de la Espriella posing for a photo (Photo: Abelardo de la Espriella / Wikimedia Commons [CC0 1.0])