Like El Salvador’s Bukele, de la Espriella presents himself as tough on crime, countering Petro’s “total peace” approach of attempting dialogue with armed rebels to end violence in the country. De la Espriella promised to “fight with an iron fist the criminals, the corrupt, the unpunished criminals and anyone who intends to continue threatening the existence of Colombia.” Also mirroring Bukele’s approach, de la Espriella has proposed the construction of 10 megaprisons.
The prisons are just one part of de la Espriella’s larger plans for Colombia’s security: in his campaign manifesto, he said he plans to launch a nationwide military offensive to enforce better state control in 90 days, and he pledged to strengthen the country’s armed forces through drones and artificial intelligence. He also plans to counter drug-trafficking by eliminating 330,000 hectares of coca farms—by any means necessary.
But de la Espriella’s opponents question his commitment to cracking down on crime, after he represented several controversial figures in Colombia. He was the former lawyer of David Murcia Guzmán, who masterminded a giant pyramid scheme in the country, and of Alex Saab, a close business associate of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro who was deported to the U.S. last month and indicted for money laundering. De la Espriella also represented some high-profile victims, including Natalia Ponce de León, who was the target of an acid attack in 2014, and Rosa Elvira Cely, whose murder in 2012 generated national outrage and led to the creation of Colombia’s femicide laws.
