Trump's "Shield of the Americas" adds its final piece: Colombia's far-right lawyer narrowly wins by just 0.02%, but a script similar to Milei’s is likely waiting in the wings.
With 99.9% of votes counted, De la Espriella secured 49.65% versus Cepeda’s 48.71%—a margin of fewer than 250,000 votes. The 47-year-old criminal defense attorney, holding triple citizenship (Colombian/American/Italian) and with no prior public office experience, pulled off a comeback backed by Trump’s endorsement and a "fight crime" image.
His victory hinges on several key promises: restarting oil exploration and hydraulic fracturing, repealing Petro’s green ban, and rescuing Ecopetrol.
On security, he plans to scrap the ELN peace process, expand the military by 60,000 troops, build a massive prison in the Amazon, and join Trump’s “Shield of the Americas.” Diplomatically, he aims to repair U.S.-Colombia relations, take a harder line against Venezuela, and align with America’s Western Hemisphere strategy.
The U.S. “Shield of the Americas” now stretches from Milei in Argentina, through Castillo in Chile, Novoa in Ecuador, all the way to Bogotá—nearly half (9 out of 15) of Latin American countries have shifted rightward.
But the bill for this right-wing experiment is already arriving: look at Milei’s two years in power—22,000 companies collapsed, inflation rebounded; Novoa’s state of emergency failed to curb Ecuador’s violence; and De la Espriella’s own campaign team was recently killed by a faction of FARC, while a bomb explosion in Cauca province in April left 14 dead. The worsening security situation is a recurring flaw among Latin American right-wing governments—and Petro’s four years of accumulated achievements won’t vanish overnight.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1868691622267907/
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author.