Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella vowed Friday to restore order and crush "narco-terrorism” in a forceful first speech as the country’s new leader.

Hours after his inauguration in the southwestern city of Cali, the 48-year-old U.S.-backed millionaire flew by helicopter to a military garrison, where he addressed hundreds of soldiers and laid out his hard-line security agenda.

His presidency marks a sharp turn to the right for the Andean nation, with de la Espriella signaling plans to strengthen ties with Washington and take a tougher approach toward Colombia’s array of armed groups.

"There will be no room for maneuvers that undermine the stability of the nation,” he told the troops, delivering a stern message that echoed the military-style salute he adopted during his campaign.

De la Espriella pledged to "relentlessly defeat narco-terrorism,” declaring that "the option of dialogue is completely exhausted” in a clear rejection of the previous administration’s faltering peace talks with guerrilla groups.

His first major foreign policy priority, he said, will be joining U.S. President Donald Trump’s regional anti-cartel initiative, known as the Shield of the Americas.

The U.S. leader now has an eager ally in Bogotá.

De la Espriella, who holds dual U.S. and Colombian citizenship, has offered to host U.S. troops on Colombian soil and wants to bomb jungle cocaine labs, build "mega-prisons” and slash the size of the state.

Unusual inauguration

In a break with tradition, his inauguration took place in Cali, Colombia’s salsa capital, rather than at Congress in the more buttoned-up capital, Bogotá.

Among the guests was beleaguered FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, who faces scathing criticism over his now-shelved plan to open the World Cup and other competitions to private investment.

Right-wing figures also attended, including Argentine President Javier Milei and Todd Blanche, Trump’s acting attorney general, who headed the U.S. delegation.

De la Espriella’s leftist predecessor, Gustavo Petro, declined to attend the ceremony.

He earlier left the presidential residence in the capital, bidding "farewell, freedom and life.”

‘A lot to prove’

Cali has suffered several guerrilla attacks in recent years, and the city saw beefed-up security for the occasion, including 11,000 troops and an anti-drone system.

De la Espriella’s narrow victory, by less than 1 percentage point, ended four years of Colombia’s first-ever leftist government.

He now faces a divided Congress, where he lacks a majority.

Supporters are hoping for a harsh crackdown on crime and dissident armed groups.

"This government has a lot to prove. A lot was said during the campaign,” 46-year-old Marisol Peira told AFP in Cali.

Petro tried and failed to negotiate peace with the country’s myriad armed groups.

Experts say the gangs, once ideological but now focused on making money from cocaine trafficking and other illicit trades, used government truces as cover to grow.

Petro, who has claimed election fraud without providing evidence, called for mass protests in major cities Friday, and hundreds of people peacefully demonstrated in Bogotá and Barranquilla.

Plan Colombia

De la Espriella’s victory is yet another notch in the belt for Latin American right-wingers after electoral wins from Chile to Costa Rica on the back of security promises.

The former lawyer wants to eliminate coca crops used for cocaine production "by all means,” advocates the environmentally harmful practice of fracking and plans to lower taxes for the rich.

Calling himself "The Tiger,” de la Espriella plans to forge a military alliance with the United States and Israel to aid his war on guerrillas.

His so-called "Plan Colombia II” is a nod to a multimillion-dollar agreement with Washington in the 2000s aimed at combating drug cartels and leftist groups.

"We have to support him so there won’t be so much crime,” said German Angulo, a 63-year-old contractor. "We need a complete change.”

Although the original "Plan Colombia” succeeded in weakening key combat groups, it also led to allegations of serious human rights abuses.