Colombia's president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, a criminal defence lawyer with no prior public office experience, has named all eighteen members of his incoming cabinet four days ahead of his August 7 inauguration, which will be held at the Arena USC of Santiago de Cali University rather than in the capital. The team pairs institutional figures from the traditional right — including former Barranquilla mayor Elsa Noguera at Transport, senator-turned-interior-minister Rodrigo Lara, and economist José Manuel Restrepo as vice president — with appointments that reflect a more ideologically charged strand, among them a pastor as Housing minister and former senator Viviane Morales, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage and abortion, as Education minister, a posting that has drawn concern from LGBTI organisations. The cabinet composition underscores the dual character of de la Espriella's governing project, branded "Patria Milagro," which couples technocratic conservatism with Christian-right and broadly Trumpist sympathies as he prepares to succeed outgoing leftist president Gustavo Petro for the 2026–2030 term.