# Colombia's incoming president De la Espriella pledges return of coca fumigation and aerial bombardments in Independence Day speech > Abelardo De la Espriella gave his first major policy address on July 20, Colombia's Independence Day, pledging to restore aerial fumigation of coca crops and aerial bombardments halted under Gustavo Petro; Colombia's new Congress for the 2026-2030 legislative term was sworn in the same day with a majority coalition backing De la Espriella's agenda **Meta:** type: event · date: 2026-07-20 · heads: Who Decides, The Long Game · 6 takes · 5 lenses · 3 regions ## Summary [Abelardo De la Espriella](/en/entity/abelardo-de-la-espriella) gave his first major policy address on July 20, 2026, Colombia's Independence Day, pledging to restore aerial fumigation of coca crops and aerial bombardments against illicit drug production, reversals of two key policies of outgoing President [Gustavo Petro](/en/entity/person/gustavo-petro). El Espectador reported De la Espriella also announced he will govern partly from [Colombia](/en/entity/colombia)'s regions, not solely from Bogota. The same day, Colombia's new 2026-2030 Congress was sworn in, with ColombiaOne confirming a majority of parties from De la Espriella's incoming coalition represented in the chamber. The political handover was tense: Al Jazeera reported Petro was simultaneously calling for protests and continuing to dispute the June election result. ## The split El Espectador, Colombia's lead liberal daily, led with the specific policy reversals in De la Espriella's speech, treating the coca fumigation pledge as the most consequential commitment. ColombiaOne focused on the congressional alignment, framing the new legislative majority as De la Espriella's structural advantage. Al Jazeera foregrounded the transfer-of-power tensions rather than De la Espriella's agenda, keeping Petro's protest call at the top of the frame. Kommersant read the transition as a Latin American political-cycle phenomenon, placing Colombia alongside other post-left-turn governments in the region. None of the feed docs carried a formal rejection or acceptance statement from De la Espriella's team about Petro's protest call. ## By the numbers - July 20, 1810, the date of Colombia's original Grito de Independencia, the symbolic backdrop for both Petro's farewell and De la Espriella's first speech - July 20, 2026, the date the new 2026-2030 Colombian Congress was sworn in, ahead of De la Espriella's August 7 formal inauguration ## Why it matters Aerial fumigation of coca crops, suspended by Petro, was a long-standing US-Colombia counter-narcotics tool. Its announced return signals a shift in Colombia's drug-policy alignment toward Washington at a time when US-Latin America relations are a live diplomatic variable. A functioning congressional majority from day one reduces the legislative gridlock that constrained Petro's agenda. ## What to watch - The formal restoration order for aerial fumigation and the legal challenges from coca-region communities and environmental groups - Whether Petro's protest campaign finds traction or dissipates after the power transfer - De la Espriella's formal inauguration on August 7 and his first acts as constitutional president - Colombia's peace negotiations with armed groups under the new government's security-first framing --- ## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens) ### Colombia's leading national liberal newspaper; reported De la Espriella's specific policy pledges from the speech, the announced reversal of Petro's ban on aerial fumigation of coca crops and aerial bombardments - **El Espectador** (Colombia, es) — El Espectador reported De la Espriella's Independence Day speech announcing the return of aerial fumigations against illicit coca crops and aerial bombardments, a direct reversal of Gustavo Petro's drug-policy approach; the outlet also noted the incoming president announced plans to operate from the regions rather than exclusively from Bogota, framing his administration as deliberately decentralised. > "'Volverán las fumigaciones y los bombardeos': De la Espriella en su discurso del 20 de julio. Aerial fumigations and bombardments will return, De la Espriella announced." Source: https://www.elespectador.com/politica/volveran-las-fumigaciones-y-los-bombardeos-abelardo-de-la-espriella-en-su-discurso-del-20-de-julio-noticias-hoy/ ### English-language Colombian news outlet; confirmed the constitutional inauguration of the new Congress on July 20, noting the majority coalition backing De la Espriella's future government - **ColombiaOne** (Colombia, en) — ColombiaOne confirmed Colombia inaugurated its new 2026-2030 Congress on July 20, with a majority of parties from De la Espriella's incoming governing coalition represented; the outlet frames the congressional alignment as giving the incoming president a working legislative majority from day one of the new term. > "Colombia has convened its new Congress for the 2026-2030 term, with a majority of parties from De la Espriella's future governing coalition." Source: https://colombiaone.com/2026/07/20/colombia-swears-in-new-congress-as-2026-2030-legislative-term-begins/ ### Doha-based global broadcaster; framed the July 20 independence-day handover through the lens of political tension, with Petro calling for protests and disputing the election result while De la Espriella's Congress majority was being sworn in - **Al Jazeera** (Qatar, en) — Al Jazeera reported the Colombia power transfer on Independence Day as politically tense: outgoing President Petro was calling for protests and disputing the June election result, while the incoming De la Espriella coalition was simultaneously assembling its congressional majority; the framing centres the continuity risk and the degree to which Petro is contesting the legitimacy of the transition. > "The outgoing president has called for protests as he continues to dispute the results of last month's election." Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/20/petro-to-give-farewell-speech-amid-colombia-transfer-of-power-tensions ### Moscow financial daily; read Colombia's transition as a decisive rightward turn after Petro's left-wing government, situating the transfer within Latin America's post-left-turn political cycle - **Kommersant** (Russia, ru) — Kommersant framed the Colombia transition as a right turn after Petro's government, contextualising De la Espriella's incoming administration within the broader regional pattern of left-wing governments losing power in Latin America; the outlet characterised Petro's exit as the end of a left-wing experiment and De la Espriella's incoming government as a reorientation toward market-friendly and security-first policies. > "Колумбия готовится к правому повороту после выборов. Colombia prepares for a rightward turn after the elections." Source: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/8830057 ### unlabelled - **Kommersant** (Russia, ru) — Source: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/8829890 - **El Espectador** (Colombia, es) — Source: https://www.elespectador.com/politica/desfile-de-20-de-julio-discurso-de-gustavo-petro-y-discurso-de-abelardo-de-la-espriella-hoy-en-vivo/ ## Across the graph - Related: [[colombia-petro-independence-0720]], [[gustavo-petro-dossier]] - Entities: Colombia, Abelardo De La Espriella, Person:gustavo Petro, Colombia Conflict --- Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/en/n/colombia-espriella-0720