Abelardo De La Espriella’s family: Córdoba roots, his wife and children, and the story behind Colombia’s new president

As Abelardo De La Espriella received Colombia’s presidential sash and took the oath of office, his three-year-old daughter Francesca wandered across the stage, kissed him on the forehead and tried to take his presidential staff. The scene brought smiles from the front rows before the new president bent down to embrace her.

Ana Lucía Pineda and the couple’s other three children, Lucía, Salvador and Filippo, watched nearby. The family moment unfolded as the De La Espriella family entered the Casa de Nariño, but the family’s roots lie much farther north, in Córdoba.

Although De La Espriella was born in Bogotá on July 31, 1978, he grew up in Montería with his two siblings. He is the second of three children of Abelardo De La Espriella Juris and María Eugenia Otero. His father, a lawyer and former notary, built a career in politics and the justice system.

During the 1980s, his father served as a Córdoba deputy for the Liberal Party and later became a magistrate on the department’s Administrative Court. He also ran twice for governor and sought a Senate seat in 2002. His public career was accompanied by extensive work as a notary. During Álvaro Uribe’s presidency, he became a notary in Cartagena and later headed Notary Office 32 in Bogotá, a post he left in 2022.

His name has long been linked to Uribismo because of his closeness to Uribe, dating back to the 1990s, when both pursued their respective gubernatorial bids in Córdoba and Antioquia. De La Espriella studied at Sergio Arboleda University, specialized in administrative and criminal law, and later founded De La Espriella Lawyers. The firm also became an important part of Pineda’s professional career. Pineda was born in Montería and attended Colegio Británico for her primary and secondary education.