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El presidente Abelardo de la Espriella en su despacho al firmar solicitudes de extradición
El presidente Abelardo de la Espriella difundió su balance de extradiciones en un video junto al secretario jurídico de la Presidencia, Andrés Barreto. · Infobae

Abelardo reaches 156 extraditions in 89 days and vows to sign as many as needed

President Abelardo de la Espriella says he has signed 156 extraditions in 89 days in office and vows to authorize as many as necessary against transnational…

--- The context --- President Abelardo de la Espriella shared a new extradition tally on his social media accounts in the first stage of his administration. He did so in a video alongside the Presidency's legal secretary, Andrés Barreto. The announcement follows his campaign promise to increase the expulsion of criminals and judicial defendants, especially to the United States, as a tool against transnational crime. --- The facts --- According to the president's tally, he has signed 156 extraditions in 89 days in government. In the recording, Barreto informed him that he had six new requests to sign on Thursday, November 5, 2026, alone. De la Espriella said they are giving it everything in the fight against transnational crime, using extradition as an absolutely fundamental tool, and warned that he will continue authorizing the requests that reach his desk. The requests must go through the corresponding legal and diplomatic procedures before the handover of each person sought by authorities in other countries can take place. --- The positions --- Vice President José Manuel Restrepo defended the administration's early results at the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in Madrid and accused Gustavo Petro's government of having acted in connivance between criminal groups and the government then in office. Restrepo said that in the first 90 days the authorities made more than 32 thousand arrests, captured or killed 35 ringleaders and signed more than 150 extraditions, and claimed that homicides, kidnappings, terrorism, extortion and massacres have fallen by between 40% and 80%. Those figures were presented as a government tally, without detailing in the speech the statistical sources, comparison periods or methodology used. --- What remains unknown --- The details of the 156 signed extraditions, how many handovers have been completed after the legal and diplomatic procedures, and the sources and methodology behind the crime reductions cited by the vice president remain undisclosed. --- Unanswered questions --- How many of the 156 signed extraditions have already become effective handovers to the requesting countries? What statistical sources and comparison periods support the reductions of between 40% and 80% mentioned by Restrepo? How will it be guaranteed that each extradition fully complies with the required legal and diplomatic procedures? --- EPM analysis --- The tally combines a figure that can be tracked through its paperwork —the accumulated signatures— with security numbers that the report itself presents without detailed statistical backing. That difference matters: extradition is a procedure with judicial and diplomatic controls, not an automatic handover, and its effectiveness is measured in completed handovers and processes that withstand legal scrutiny. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the central fact is that the government turned extradition into a visible axis of its fight against transnational crime: 156 signatures in 89 days and a promise to authorize as many as necessary. But caution is warranted: the vice president presented crime reductions of between 40% and 80% without detailing sources, periods or methodology, and each request must still pass the legal and diplomatic procedures. The strength of this policy will be proven in effective handovers, in processes that withstand judicial scrutiny and in public, verifiable figures over time.
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