CUCUTA, Colombia, Aug 1, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A truck packed with explosives 
detonated on Saturday next to a police station in the Colombian city of 
Cucuta, near the border with Venezuela, six days before the inauguration of 
President-elect Abelardo de la Abelardo de la Espriella, AFP journalists 
observed.

Reporters saw the vehicle in flames, damaged building facades and police, 
soldiers and residents gathering around the scene of the attack.

There was no immediate official report of casualties.

The right-wing De la Espriella will take office on August 7 in the city of 
Cali, succeeding Gustavo Petro, the first leftist president in the country's 
history.

Presidential inaugurations are traditionally held at the Congress building in 
Bogota, but the president-elect requested that the ceremony be moved to Cali, 
in the country's southwest, a region plagued by clashes between drug 
trafficking gangs and guerrillas.

The election campaign was marked by political violence.

In 2025, right-wing presidential hopeful and senator Miguel Uribe Turbay was 
shot at an event in Bogota and later died.

De la Espriella has repeatedly alleged the existence of a plot to assassinate 
him.