The US has pledged $1bn (£740m) in assistance to Colombia, after the country’s new right-wing president was sworn in on Friday. De la Espriella chose to take the oath of office not in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, but in the volatile city of Cali, in the west. The change was intended to signal a tough approach to illegal armed groups operating in the region. Instead of holding peace talks with armed groups, he has promised a brutal crackdown on their activities and the construction of mega-prisons. De la Espriella has pledged to abandon this approach, instead promising a military crackdown.