Colombia election favorite vows US-backed strikes on narco camps

"We'll start immediately with the bombing of narco-terrorist camps and with fumigation," the 47-year-old told AFP in Bogota.

"Any criminal who does not surrender will be taken down as the law allows," he said, framing his campaign for the May vote as a rescue mission for a country he says is sliding into chaos.

After spells as a singer, clothier, wine merchant and defense lawyer for the rich and famous, De la Espriella said he entered politics to serve his homeland.

"I have the character, the temperament, the drive, the passion and -- pardon the Spanish -- the balls to do what Colombia needs," he said.

Branding himself "The Tiger," he is betting Colombia will become the latest Latin American country to swing to the right.

Once clean shaven, he now sports a closely cropped beard like that of a political hero, El Salvador's popular hard-line President Nayib Bukele.

There are early signs de la Espriella's pitch may be working. Polls show him running slightly ahead of leftist rival Ivan Cepeda in a tight race.

- Strategic shift -

A de la Espriella victory would put the military back at the center of the fight with armed groups and risks reigniting a decades-old conflict.

For the last four years, Colombia has been governed by its first-ever leftist government.

Petro, a former guerrilla who can serve only one four-year term, has tried to avoid war with armed groups who control swaths of the country, instead seeking peace deals.

The policy has brought mixed results. Sporadic ceasefires have helped quell violence, but the power and territory of many armed groups has grown. 

Colombia now has record levels of cocaine production, according to UN data -- much more than the heyday of Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel or the Cali Cartel of the 1990s.

- Easy, tiger -

De la Espriella said his 90‑day plan needs US support to bolster troops with new weapons, artificial intelligence and drones.

"This cannot be done without a strategic alliance with the United States and the State of Israel, with US aircraft," he said, nodding to previous involvement by Colombia's Mideast ally in security matters.

Despite his hard-line rhetoric, and past links with right-wing armed paramilitary figures, de la Espriella said it was "absurd" to call him far right.

"Someone who is far right does not believe in democracy or in the separation of powers," he said. 

"I'm going to respect the constitution," he added. "I'm a democrat."

"There will be no reelection. I am coming to serve my four-year term and then return to growing grapes and olives."

And despite his claim to be a political outsider, he admits to a close relationship with conservative kingmaker and former president Alvaro Uribe.

The former leader has been a friend of his father for half a century -- a relationship he says he "inherited."

"We talk almost every day," he told AFP. "I value him greatly, I admire him, I respect him, and wherever I am I will always honor his legacy and his person."

arb/acb