De la Espriella desists from holding swearing-in ceremony at military base

President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella has apparently given up trying to be sworn in before the military and asked Congress to allow the ceremony to take place in Cali, Colombia’s third largest city.

In an address to the nation, De la Espriella said Sunday that volcanic activity made travel to Popayan, the capital of Cauca, made a “secure, well-organized” inauguration ceremony all but impossible.

“For this reason, I respectfully ask the honorable House of Representatives, which has not yet debated my inauguration in a plenary session, to convene the August 7th session in the city of Cali,” said the president-elect.

“As soon as I am sworn in as president of the republic, my government’s first security council will be held in the Marco Fidel Suarez airbase in the city of Cali,” added De la Espriella, suggesting he has given up his aspiration to be sworn in inside a military base.

In an interview, Santiago de Cali University president Carlos Andres Perez, told Blu Radio on Tuesday that Valle del Cauca Governor Dilian Francisca Toro told him the university theater would be used for the inauguration.

Following the main ceremony, De la Espriella will travel to the Pichincha Military Canton, the base of the 3rd Division, to assume his role as supreme commander of the armed forces.

The apparent decision to desist from a military inauguration comes after major tensions with the outgoing government of President Gustavo Petro, who ordered the military not to cooperate with his elected successor.

An inauguration at a military base was also opposed by the Democratic Center, the largest political party in De la Espriella’s far-right congressional coalition.

The opponents claimed that Colombia’s constitution submits the armed forces to civilian authority. A swearing-in ceremony before them would have been confusing and inappropriate.

According to De la Espriella, his intention meant to stress his support for the Colombia’s “heroes.”

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