Colombia's 'El Tigre' takes fight to cartels as Trump alliance takes shape
Colombia's President Abelardo de la Espriella, known as 'El Tigre', personally oversaw a major police operation that resulted in 72 arrests and directly confronted a cartel leader in Barranquilla.
President Abelardo de la Espriella means business when it comes to his war against the 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.
Recently, he arrived at the Barranquilla police command as 587 police officers and soldiers raided 50 locations across the Caribbean port city and its suburbs in Operation Blindaje 360. The operation culminated with the president confronting Keko, the alleged leader of 'Los del Freseo' gang, face-to-face.
The Tiger's got nothing. Let him come out, and we'll put lead in him.
Hardliner reverses peace policy
The theatrics played to a large audience who long argued that former leftist Gustavo Petros's policy of pursuing engagement with drug traffickers had left Colombia more vulnerable to organized crime. His government is seeking to reverse Petro's 'total peace' policy, which pursued negotiations with several armed 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. Nearly three months into his term, the 48-year-old lawyer has scrapped his leftist predecessor's 'total peace' talks and ordered every armed group treated as a terrorist organization.
Trump alliance strengthens
A dual U.S.-Colombian citizen who lived in Miami before running for president, de la Espriella has brought Colombia into President Donald Trump's anti-cartel 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.
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. 'The option of dialogue is completely exhausted,' de la Espriella told troops after his Aug. 7 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. 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.
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