De la Espriella says Colombia will join the US-led 'Shield of the Americas' on August 7

Colombia's president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, said on Tuesday that the country will join the "Shield of the Americas," the US initiative against drug cartels, on August 7, when he takes office in place of Gustavo Petro. "From August 7, Colombia will be part of the Shield of the Americas. Colombia will no longer be governed by a government complacent toward narcoterrorism; we will move to combat it as it deserves," he wrote on the social network X, in response to a congratulation from US War Secretary Pete Hegseth.