Colombia’s new president took the oath of office outside the capital, breaking a tradition more than a century old.

What happened

Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as Colombia’s president away from Bogotá, ending a tradition of more than a hundred years of inaugurations held in the capital, Anadolu Agency reported in its Saturday briefing.

Why the location of an inauguration matters

Inaugurations are theatre in the most useful sense: every element is chosen to say something. Holding the ceremony outside the capital is a statement that the new government intends to look beyond the political establishment concentrated there. Whether that intention survives contact with governing is, of course, another matter — but the gesture tells you how a president wants to be understood on day one.

Colombia in brief

Colombia is one of South America’s largest countries, with around 52 million people, and one of its most consequential economies. Its recent history has been shaped by decades of armed conflict involving guerrilla groups, paramilitaries and drug trafficking, and by the long, contested effort to end it. Whoever holds the presidency inherits that unfinished business.

We will report on the new government’s actual policies as they emerge, rather than on predictions about them.

Source: Anadolu Agency morning briefing, 8 August 2026.