PoliticsColombia’s New President Vows to Tackle Crime ‘Head-On’

Conservative Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as Colombia’s president on Friday. He chose to hold the inauguration in Cali, a volatile city in the country’s southwest, rather than in the capital as tradition dictates. The unusual setting was intended to signal a hard-line approach toward illegal armed groups operating in the region. In his inaugural speech, he pledged to confront crime directly.