Earthquake in Colombia: Petro left the municipality at the epicenter with only USD 10,000 in its emergency fund

The controversy over UNGRD resources had been reignited just weeks before Petro left power. The then-president ordered the transfer of 4 trillion pesos to the agency to address the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, a decision questioned by De La Espriella's team due to the entity's corruption history. The then-director Javier Pava maintained that those resources would be available for execution by the new administration.

San José del Palmar arrived at this catastrophe with an extremely limited emergency fund and needed to request help from the central government.

De La Espriella declared a national disaster, ordered the UNGRD to present a detailed report on the most urgent needs in the affected areas, and personally took over the coordination of the emergency. The earthquake has already left more than a hundred dead in Colombia and caused severe damage in cities like Pereira, Cali, Manizales, and Armenia.

Additionally, the Colombian Attorney General's Office confirmed sanctions against both former officials for the irregular purchase of 40 water tankers intended for La Guajira, an operation in which overcharges exceeding 16 billion pesos were paid, an increase of more than 54% compared to actual market values.

The Colombian municipality of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó and the epicenter of the devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4, is facing the consequences of the quake with only 32 million Colombian pesos, equivalent to about 10,000 dollars available from the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) fund, as revealed by its mayor, León Fabio Marín.

The warning came just three days after Abelardo De La Espriella took office as President of Colombia, succeeding the communist Gustavo Petro. While authorities were trying to restore communications with the municipality, Marín described numerous material damages and cracked homes and demanded immediate economic assistance from the national government.

“From the UNGRD fund, I have 32 million pesos; we have no way to handle this”, the mayor stated in remarks reported by Caracol Radio. According to the first assessments released from the area, at least 10 homes collapsed in San José del Palmar.

The situation is particularly significant due to the serious corruption issues that plagued the UNGRD during Petro's government. Its former director Olmedo López pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for the planning and execution of the entity's embezzlement for the crimes of conspiracy to commit a crime and misappropriation. Sneyder Pinilla, former Deputy Director of Disaster Management, has already been sentenced to five years and eight months in prison for the same scheme.