Truck carrying explosives detonates in Colombia just days before presidential inauguration
De la Espriella's inauguration will feature one of the largest security deployments ever planned for such a ceremony, with a force of some 11,000 soldiers and police officers conducting ground, air and maritime operations.
A police officer inspects the scene after a truck explosion
A truck carrying explosives detonated this Saturday near a police station in the Colombian city of Cúcuta, near the border with Venezuela, six days before the inauguration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, AFP journalists reported.
Early Saturday morning, reporters observed the vehicle in flames, destroyed building facades and the surrounding area filled with police, military personnel and residents approaching the scene of the attack, which left approximately 11 people injured.
De la Espriella will take office on Aug. 7 in the city of Cali, replacing leftist Gustavo Petro.
With the support of the Donald Trump administration, the lawyer has promised to intensify the fight against guerrilla groups and other drug trafficking organizations that are fueling the worst wave of violence in the past decade in the country, the world's leading producer of cocaine.
To achieve his goals, de la Espriella plans to forge a military alliance with the United States and also with Israel.
De la Espriella's Inauguration
De la Espriella's inauguration will feature one of the largest security deployments ever planned for such a ceremony, with a force of some 11,000 soldiers and police officers conducting ground, air and maritime operations.
The presidential inauguration is traditionally held at the congressional building in Bogotá, but the president-elect requested that the ceremony be moved to Cali, in the southwestern part of the country—a region ravaged by clashes between drug trafficking gangs and guerrilla groups.
The guerrillas have issued warnings to the president-elect, who plans to break off the peace negotiations that Petro had been conducting with various armed groups.
De la Espriella has claimed on several occasions that there is a plot to kill him.
The recent elections were marked by political violence and an escalation of the armed conflict involving bombs, explosive drones and numerous attacks against security forces.
In 2025, right-wing presidential candidate, Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, was shot at an event in Bogotá and later died.
De la Espriella initially sought to take up a position at a military garrison in the conflict-ridden department of Cauca, but Petro did not authorize the initiative.
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