Medellin will be the home of the US-led “Shield of the Americas” security program, according to Colombia’s President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella and Mayor Federico Gutierrez.

At a meeting with authorities from the Antioquia province, De la Espriella and Gutierrez agreed that Colombia’s second largest city is the “head of the snake of drug trafficking and organized crime.”

From Medellin, the metropolitan area, most orders are sent out to the rest of the country. So we’re going to focus our efforts on Medellin to fight crime.

Abelardo de la Espriella

The announcement followed alleged calls between De la Espriella, US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and meetings between incoming Defense Minister Jorge Mora and the US’ Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for the Americas, Joseph Humire.

Following the meeting, Mora and Humire announced “Plan Patriota 2.0” and the creation of a “Regional Training Center against Drug Trafficking and Transnational Threats,” which would be “aimed at improving interoperability, operational readiness, and cooperation with allied countries” from the Americas.

During these meetings, the parties explored the joint development of a new bilateral program for cooperation and strategic assistance with a regional scope, known as Plan Patriota 2.0. This initiative is conceived as part of Colombia’s accession to the American Coalition Against the Cartels and is based on the design of the new Policy on Defense, Security, and Civic Coexistence, as well as on the strategy for military and police campaigns in priority areas for the restoration and stabilization of security.

Jorge Mora

Plan Patriota was a US-backed military strategy that was implemented by former President Alvaro Uribe between 2003 and 2006.

The plan sought to dismantle the military organization of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group, which it largely did while also killing thousands and forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands civilians.

De la Espriella has said that he seeks to restart Plan Colombia and seek to militarily destroy groups that were formed during and after peace processes with the FARC and the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC.