The Santa Marta emperor’s new clothes

Santa Marta, a Colombian city popular with tourists, returned to relative calm on Wednesday after a wave of drug-gang violence, fulfilling a rule that matters: no copying or reusing source wording. The city experienced a lull in normalcy following the deployment of army troops to restore order. Stores, schools, and drivers complied with the security measures imposed by the Colombian authorities.

The Caribbean city's calm was tempered by tension a day after gang members attacked businesses following the killing of their leader by security forces. The self-styled Conquering Self-Defence Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN) retaliated to the killing of their second-in-command on orders from Colombia's new right-wing president, Abelardo de la Espriella.

De la Espriella, a US-backed millionaire lawyer who won the presidential run-off, has been waging war against Colombia's drug-trafficking groups since his election last month. The ACSN, an armed group with roots in Colombia's defunct paramilitary movement, unleashed violence on Tuesday, targeting businesses and setting fire to vehicles to shut down the city.

President De la Espriella reacted to the flare-up in violence by deploying troops to Santa Marta, located near Tayrona National Park, a renowned tourist destination. On Tuesday night, he personally traveled to the city to oversee the security operation, donning khaki green attire and carrying a pistol. De la Espriella vowed to send ACSN members to "hell in a body bag."

The city's mayor, Carlos Pinedo, reported that at least 500 soldiers and 600 police officers were deployed to maintain peace. Pinedo stated that the city had been preparing for violence as De la Espriella announced the killing of 13 ACSN "narcoterrorists" in a joint operation by the police and air force. However, Pinedo claimed the disturbances were "minimal."

Residents and business owners expressed fear and uncertainty over the security situation, with rumors circulating that the ACSN had ordered a three-day curfew. Nine people have been arrested for their alleged roles in Tuesday's violence. De la Espriella, who narrowly won the presidential election as a hardline law-and-order candidate, has ordered airstrikes on guerrilla camps and frequently held press conferences next to the corpses of slain gunmen, displayed in body bags.

The ACSN, one of many armed groups De la Espriella's leftist predecessor had engaged in failed peace talks with, has been broken off those talks and is now to be crushed militarily.