Less than a month after his inauguration, the president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, continues his visits to various regions of the country within the framework of what he has called his ‘territorial junction’, a space in which he meets with citizens and local leaders to listen to their requests. While he is in charge of strengthening the relationship with regional power, his vice president, José Manuel Restrepo, will fulfill an international agenda in the United States.
In recent days, De La Espriella traveled with his team to Cúcuta (Norte de Santander) and Yopal (Casanare), two regions in which the majority of the votes registered were for his candidacy: 76% and 69%, respectively. From both municipalities he thanked all his voters and promised to work with a decentralized approach that prioritizes the regions.
READ ALSO
The president-elect’s intention is to travel to more departments before his presidential inauguration, which, among other things, he does not want to take place in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá, but in a military garrison located in another city. It was learned that his team was examining military installations in Cali, Popayán, Tolemaida and Madrid (Cundinamarca) as options.
Abelardo De La Espriella and his designated ministers. Photo:CRISTIAN ACOSTA/KRONOS
The decision on its possession will be known after July 20, when Congress determines if the act can be held outside the capital. While that moment arrives, the elected president will continue his ‘territorial connection’ in Santander, Antioquia and Huila, other departments that were key to his victory at the polls, in which he obtained 12.9 million votes.
In Santander, 64% of the votes registered were for him and ‘vice’ Restrepo; in Antioquia, the figure was also 64% and in Huila, 61%. In these departments he hopes to follow the same line as his two meetings in Norte de Santander and Casanare: to listen directly to the governor and the mayors regarding the priorities, needs and projects that could be ‘put on the accelerator’.
In Cúcuta, where he was on July 8 and held the ‘territorial junction’ sessions, he promised to improve security in this department, look for more trade opportunities and review the situation with the border with Venezuela.
He issued an ultimatum against leaders of the 33rd front of the FARC and the ELN and officially presented his designated Minister of Defense, General Jorge Eduardo Mora, who will also have the mission of improving the security and social care situation in Catatumbo, where last year the largest displacement in the country was recorded due to a single event.
READ ALSO
“We are going to do everything possible to solve the problems of each of the municipalities, to make Norte de Santander a great department of the ‘Miracle Homeland’. The governors and mayors do not need intermediaries, they have a direct relationship with the Presidency, we have established a mechanism that allows them to have a direct connection. All my commitment to this department, which I have no way of paying for its help at the polls,” said De La Espriella.
A day later, he was in Chiquinquirá (Boyacá) to attend a Eucharist, in which not only his wife, Ana Lucía Pineda, and several members of his campaign were present, but also a United States official: the business delegate of the embassy of this country in Colombia, Hugo Guevara.
De La Espriella wants harmony with the Trump administration, which has shown its sympathy with the victory at the polls. That is why, without having taken office, he sent a delegation to Washington made up of his vice president Restrepo and the designated ministers of Finance, Miguel Gómez, and Commerce, Mauricio Gómez, to hold high-level meetings.
José Manuel Restrepo, elected vice president. Photo:Milton Diaz. THE TIME
A visit to the US Congress is on the agenda. The idea is to hold an exclusive hearing to understand what the beginning of the new government of Colombia entails and which would be attended by members of the State Department.
READ ALSO
In addition to the visit to the United States Congress, the treasury minister-designate is tasked with strengthening ties with global banks and multilateral financial organizations. One of its objectives will be to renegotiate the external debt and improve payment terms due to the fiscal deficit in Colombia.
De La Espriella is getting ready for his next visits after the second session of the ‘territorial junction’ that he held this Saturday in Yopal. There, he met with local leaders to review issues related to security, agribusiness and the rain emergency, which has left 90% of the department’s urban area under water.
“We are going to look for the resources, we are going to commit ourselves to it. We are going to tell you the truth about which projects we can execute and we are going to do it for the good of the municipalities and the department. For security reasons I could not come to Casanare, but here I am fulfilling my promise as president-elect. In this department I got more than 63% of the vote and that fills me with honor,” said De La Espriella.
Likewise, the president-elect announced the delivery of aid to the more than 7,000 victims and designated his wife as the person in charge of continuing to collect humanitarian aid. He maintained that in a first delivery, 6,500 markets will be given with non-perishable food, 3,500 mattresses, 2,000 hygiene kits, 2,000 household goods kits and 2,000 hammocks.
“We have started a campaign that allows us to collect aid for those affected by the floods in the department. When we come to government it will be strengthened,” said the elected president, who has held talks with business sectors to strengthen the collection of aid.
On the other hand, although the formal meetings at the Casa de Nariño with the government of President Gustavo Petro were suspended, De La Espriella’s team continues the review of the information from ministries and entities that they have been sending since the outgoing presidential mandate.
In addition, the formation of his entire ministerial cabinet is about to be completed. There are already twelve designated ministers appointed; nine men and three women, so the remaining six positions must be filled by women to comply with the quota law.
De La Espriella already had the first official meeting with his ministers in Barranquilla, the city that sounds like the alternate headquarters from which he would dispatch, enhancing his approach to governing for and from the regions. Last Friday, he summoned them all to examine the information on the junction, prepare the decrees he wants to issue as soon as he takes office and look at what the priorities of each sector are.
LAURA CATALINA PERALTA GIRALDO
Political Writing.
