A Big Earthquake Reveals Two Very Different Colombias
The quake killed 281 people and injured 3,971, while deepening pressure on the new president to shift power and resources away from Bogotá.
- On Thursday, President De La Espriella visited Quibdo, pledging rental assistance and medical transfers for families affected by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that devastated the remote region.
- The death toll reached 281 as of Thursday evening, with 3,971 injured and 379 missing; Choco's geographic isolation makes aid delivery 10 times more difficult than in other parts of Colombia.
- Choco, home to 500,000 people, faced extreme vulnerability before the quake: 85% of residents lacked electricity in the days after, and the province already suffered a 65% poverty rate, highest in Colombia.
- Yet De La Espriella's initial choice to return to Bogota delayed the decentralized response he promised. Maria Isabel Ulloa, executive director of ProPacifico, said the earthquake underscores that "Colombia's problems have to be addressed in the territories outside Bogota, not just from the capital."
- De La Espriella plans to draft a new regional revenue proposal with governors and mayors, though implementing this administrative overhaul amid a years-long recovery effort will test his decentralization agenda.
26 Articles
26 Articles
The initiative launched by Abelardo de la Espriella includes a "special manager" to coordinate the needs of the country's poorest department with the central government.
Earthquake deepens Colombia leader’s push to empower remote regions
Yeiner Mena had only recently finished building a new home with his wife in the remote Colombian city of Quibdo when the strongest earthquake in 50 years reduced it to rubble. “We lost everything,” Mena, 30, said. “We are alone.” The challenge facing new President Abelardo de la Espriella is to prove to families like Mena’s that they’re not. A conservative lawyer and political outsider, De la ...
The government raises to 285 the number of dead and maintains in 379 the disappeared president announces a plan of reconstruction for the homes affected by the earthquake The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain confirms the death of a citizen with dual nationality
President Abelardo de la Espriella traveled today to Quibdó, one of the areas most affected by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that the country faced at the beginning of the week. With the search for people already closed, the emergency entered the reconstruction phase. From the Unified Command Post (PMU), where he met with Gov. Nubia Carolina Córdoba, De la Espriella announced that the government will launch what he baptized as the “Marshall Plan.…
The initiative includes a "special manager" to coordinate the needs of the department with the central government
Lifeguards complete the fourth day of work in the hope of achieving some miraculous rescue from the tragedy that leaves 287 dead
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
