He will not have known the state of grace for long. Abelardo de la Espriella probably did not think, the day after his inauguration last weekend, that he would have to face one of the most powerful earthquakes in the country’s history, with already hundreds of deaths, nearly 4,000 injured, 500 missing and immense material damage. Strangely, the epicenter of the earthquake took place on Monday in the western region of Choco, just 250 kilometers north of Cali, where the ceremonies took place, and almost immediately after the departure of the official delegations. Incidentally, the country’s third city was particularly affected, with nearly thirty buildings collapsing. Abelardo de la Espriella barely had time to threaten the drug gangs and launch the first land military offensive against the “narcos” : this unprecedented event forced him to enter the arena.
A few hours after his speeches and crowd baths, he was on site, with the same suit, the same cufflinks, at the bedside of the victims, in the most devastated areas. But despite its calls for the unity of the country, the Colombian left opposition jumped at the opportunity to denounce a “offbeat appearance” in the face of the tragedy experienced by thousands of Colombians. In the lead, Gustavo Petro took the opportunity to criticize his style, the slowness of the rescue, and denounce the “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing, much praised by the liberal camp to extract oil or natural gas, guilty according to the president “ecologist” outgoing, to weaken the earth’s crust…
A few hesitations and hiccups in presidential communication became holy bread for an opposition not quite recovered from its crushing defeat last June. As a reminder, unexpected winner on June 21, by a very narrow margin with 49% of the votes cast against 48 for the far-left candidate Iván Cepeda, “Abelardo”the criminal lawyer who became a billionaire thanks to his investments in real estate, wants to embody the man of action in the face of the immobility of his socialist predecessor. His inauguration also attracted all the greats of the Hispanic world, starting with the King of Spain Felipe VI, who came specially to strengthen ties between the two countries, or the Argentinian Javier Milei, who came to congratulate his Colombian liberal alter ego, a supporter like him of “chainsaw policy”budget cuts…
Thus, after initially refusing international aid, banking on the professionalism of Colombian rescuers, his government finally announced the entry of search and rescue teams from four friendly countries: the United States, Ecuador, El Salvador, and especially Israel. Maria José Pizarro, a former senator very close to the outgoing president, was then among the most virulent, denouncing in passing the new pro-Israeli orientation of the head of state: “Instead of spending your time reconnoitering the Golan Heights, do what needs to be done. Govern! » she said, adding without complexes, in a very Spanish war dialectic of 1936: “Allow international brigades to help…”
Two brother countries
The fact remains that the destinies of Colombia and Venezuela seem definitively linked by a series of earthquakes which left two sister countries in mourning in two months. “These two earthquakes mark the end of dictatorships, esteemed by the Tangwall Campagin Fernando Orjuela Galeano, famous political scientist close to power. In Venezuela, the fragile social housing complexes built under the Chavista regime have collapsed like houses of cards. In Colombia, the negligence of the Petro authorities, who had promised to renovate all the buildings, partly explains this disaster. The Choco region is mainly populated by poor Afro-Colombians living in slums. Petro had promised to support them through a comprehensive plan, but he did nothing. »
The destinies of Colombia and Venezuela seem linked
Even more symbolic, this region ravaged by drug trafficking voted overwhelmingly for the far-left candidate, Iván Cepeda. By going there quickly, the president of La Espriella also sought to establish a link with the entire nation.
