The US has pledged $1bn (£740m) to Colombia hours after the country’s new right-wing populist president was sworn in.
Abelardo de la Espriella, an admirer of Donald Trump who echoed many of the US president’s policies on the campaign trail, used his maiden speech to promise an “all-out war” on drug cartels.
The US state department said the “security package” would help him achieve “our shared goals”, which include fighting organised crime and illegal immigration. Trump repeatedly criticised de la Espriella’s left-wing predecessor over his approach to both.
So the goal is to tie the former government to drug cartels and persecute them that way, right? I doubt they will actually get rid of the cartels, which serve as proxies for American imperialism.