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Imagine that the country’s Minister of Housing goes to the beach to rest with his family in the middle of an earthquake that has left at least 312 dead (according to Legal Medicine), 197 collapsed buildings, and 26,000 destroyed homes. It seems like a scene from a dystopian series like Years and Years, which portrayed the political and social drift of the world, and especially the lack of empathy, like few others. But there is no need to imagine anything: Jaime Andrés Beltrán, minister under Abelardo de La Espriella, was sunbathing on the beaches of Santa Marta while rain fell on some regions affected by the earthquake and many victims were in tents or shelters.
Beltrán, who is a Christian pastor, defended himself by appealing to family—a worn-out excuse in Colombia, used years ago by politicians of all kinds. “We cannot forget that behind the minister, there is a father, a husband, a son,” said the official, who has been in office for 13 days. His words contrasted with those of the president, who has visited Cali, Quibdó, and Pereira, and has coordinated meetings to address the emergency.
The leader—who also threw soccer balls marked with his slogan, as if he were campaigning, to children in Buenaventura affected by the earthquake—stated that they were working 24 hours on the ground. This was not the case for Beltrán, whom even supporters of Abelardism have asked to resign. The opposition has vehemently criticized him and announced it will seek a motion of censure to remove him from the ministry.
But the final decision reveals the temperament of the new president: not only does he keep him in office, but he also appointed him coordinator of the reconstruction. Hopefully, he won’t go back to the beach.
To keep an eye on
With an earthquake and the humanitarian consequences still unfolding, many other news about the country’s fate can go unnoticed. Here are some of them, covered in EL PAÍS América Colombia:
The most important is the military interference of the United States in Colombia and the announcement made by the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who revealed that De la Espriella had authorized “joint military operations.” The news, which the president has not officially reported, raises many questions. Some were noted in this newspaper’s editorial: “De la Espriella promised a realignment with the White House, but cooperating again is very different from talking about joint operations. Under whose command? Who assumes responsibility for the decisions made and their consequences? Does the plan involve deploying U.S. troops on Colombian territory, warships in its waters, combat aircraft in its airspace? Hegseth gave the news but not the details. Neither has De la Espriella.”
The alignment of foreign policy with Israel. De La Espriella gives such importance to Benjamin Netanyahu that just two hours after the earthquake, the Foreign Ministry prioritized recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights, a decision shared only with the United States. The determination violates international consensus and has generated a diplomatic crisis with at least twenty Arab countries. Added to this is the arrival of rescuers from the Israeli Army to Cali. In the first week, the new government also resumed coal exports and announced the relocation of the Colombian embassy to Jerusalem.
Movements in the Ministry of Agriculture. Former officials of this ministry, including former Minister of Agriculture Martha Carvajalino, denounced that the new government erased the entire institutional history of the Ministry on social media. Indeed, four years of information from Petro’s left-wing government disappeared. Now only the information corresponding to Iván Duque’s right-wing government appears, followed by that of Abelardo de La Espriella. On its official account, the Ministry denied having deleted institutional information. “What it did was archive advertising content and programs from the previous administration that do not correspond to the new government’s agricultural policy.” Another unexplained event occurred in the same ministry. According to Cambio magazine, on August 11, six people entered the ministry’s headquarters to carry out an alleged security procedure and at the end of it, according to employees’ complaints, they removed “all elements related to agrarian reform, Palestine, or flags associated with the LGBTIQ+ community.”
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Other stories
This is a selection of news, reports, or interviews published in EL PAÍS América Colombia:
Colombia’s second-quarter GDP accelerates to 3.5%
Economic growth in the first half of the year reaches 2.9%, driven by state spending and entertainment.
Héctor Paul Flórez: “Are you going to wait for me to die to acknowledge that I did not kill Álvaro Gómez Hurtado?”
The Special Peace Justice has just charged the FARC with the assassination of the conservative leader, for which a man who had nothing to do with that guerrilla is serving a 40-year prison sentence.
More than thirty fires in Tolima trigger a second alert in Colombia after the earthquake
The department reached 35 municipalities on red alert and up to 31 active fires in a single day, affecting, so far, about 11,000 hectares. Despite the weekend rain, 10 ignitions are still reported.
Between the jungle and oil: the Amazonian municipality to which Colombia owes an energy transition
The economy of Orito, Putumayo, which was born as an oil field, remains tied to crude despite various tourism initiatives. The mayor seeks to produce 20,000 barrels daily; a goal in line with the new government.
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