On Friday, de la Espriella assumed office in an inauguration ceremony, which I attended, at the Arena USC on the campus of Universidad Santiago de Cali. De la Espriella’s inaugural address was piped into the auditorium, where visiting heads of state, several former Colombian heads of state, and Vice President José Manuel Restrepo listened from the stage to the seventy-five-minute speech. Abelardo de la Espriella salutes after being sworn in as the country’s new president during an inauguration ceremony, in Cali, Colombia, August 7, 2026.