How Will De La Espriella Govern? Previous Newcomers Offer Clues
History shows that newcomers often pursue a maximalist approach once elected. That can be dangerous—including to the leaders themselves.
Abelardo De La Espriella will be the 22nd president in Latin America since the 1980s who can be classified as a newcomer: a figure elected to the presidency with minimal experience in public office. What do we know about these cases Newcomers arrive with a big agenda, but they struggle to achieve their goals or even stay in the job—and when they do, damage to democracy is sometimes the result. In De La Espriella, Colombia has elected its most unusual president in a generation. He is a criminal defense lawyer whose clients included questionable figures such as...
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