Colombia’s New President Faces His First Major Test
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Original Source
A devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Colombia just days after President Abelardo de la Espriella took office, killing over 200 people and leaving thousands unaccounted for. The new president faces an immediate crisis that will test his government's ability to manage recovery efforts in some of the country's poorest and most remote regions.
Deadly Earthquake in Colombia Tests President Abelardo De La Espriella
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies. This use includes personalization of content and ads, and traffic analytics. Review our Privacy Policy for more information.
!Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Get analysis and alerts more quickly in the mobile app.
Install
Back to Foreign Policy Magazine home page
* Latest
* Regions
+ Asia & the Pacific
+ China
+ Middle East & Africa
+ Americas
+ Europe
* Newsletters
Editors’ Picks
Evening roundup with our editors’ favorite stories of the day
!World Brief Icon
World Brief
Your guide to the most important world stories of the day
!China Brief Icon
China Brief
The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week
Situation Report
Weekly update on what’s driving U.S. national security policy
FP Weekend
A curation of our best book reviews, deep dives, and other reads
!Africa Brief Icon
Africa Brief
Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent
!South Asia Brief Icon
South Asia Brief
Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors
The Reading List
Curated guides on geopolitics and current affairs
FP Bookshelf
A monthly guide to FP’s book reviews, excerpts, and reading recommendations
!Latin America Brief Icon
Latin America Brief
One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture
!Southeast Asia Brief Icon
Southeast Asia Brief
A weekly dispatch with news from the region’s 11 countries
The New Geopolitics
A five-part masterclass in IR theory with Harvard Professor Stephen M. Walt
View All Newsletters
* FP Live
* Latest
* Trending:
* Europe's record heatwave
* Gaza plan
* Ceuta's future
* Colombia's new president
Search this website
* Preferences
* My FP Feed
* Saved Articles
* Newsletters
* Magazine Archive
* Subscription Settings
* FAQs
* Log Out
Sign In
Sign In
Partner with FP at UNGA81 Partner with FP at UNGA81
Subscribe SubscribePartner with FP at UNGA81 Partner with FP at UNGA81
World Brief:
Colombia’s New President Faces His First Major Test
*
*
* Facebook
* Bluesky
* X
* LinkedIn
* WhatsApp
* Reddit
Save
Save
1. Create an FP account to save articles to read later.
Sign Up
ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN
PDF
PDF
1. **Downloadable PDFs** are a benefit of an FP subscription.
Subscribe Now
ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN
Gift
Gift
*
*
* WhatsApp
1. Gifting articles is a subscriber benefit.
Subscribe Now
ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN
2. This article is an Insider exclusive.
Contact us at [email protected] to learn about upgrade options, unlocking the ability to gift this article.
World Brief
FP’s flagship daily newsletter, catching you up on 24 hours of news in five minutes. Delivered weekdays.
Colombia’s New President Faces His First Major Test
President Abelardo de la Espriella took office mere days before a major earthquake struck the country.
By **Maxine Davey**, an editorial fellow at *Foreign Policy*, and **Eli Wizevich**, an editorial fellow at *Foreign Policy*.
!A person walks near a damaged car and collapsed building.
*A person walks near a damaged car and collapsed building.*
A damaged car near a collapsed building is pictured following an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia, on Aug. 11. Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images
My FP:
Follow topics and authors to get straight to what you like. Exclusively for FP subscribers. Subscribe Now | Log In
*
*
*
August 11, 2026, 3:52 PM
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at earthquake recovery efforts in **Colombia**, ongoing violence in the **Middle East**, and the persecution of **Russia**’s only antiwar party.
---
**Devastation in Colombia**
Search and rescue efforts continued across Colombia on Tuesday, as the country reels from a devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake that has left upward of 200 people dead and thousands more unaccounted for.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at earthquake recovery efforts in **Colombia**, ongoing violence in the **Middle East**, and the persecution of **Russia**’s only antiwar party.
Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.
---
**Devastation in Colombia**
Search and rescue efforts continued across Colombia on Tuesday, as the country reels from a devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake that has left upward of 200 people dead and thousands more unaccounted for.
The earthquake struck on Monday at 7:34 a.m. local time, with its epicenter near San José del Palmar, a small mountain town in the country’s western Chocó region. The quake was the most powerful one to hit the country in a decade, according to the Colombian Geological Service, which recorded 21 aftershocks by late Monday. Major cities such as Cali, Quibdo, and Pereira sustained serious damage, and an estimated 5,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed.
As first responders dig through the rubble for an estimated 3,000 missing people, the disaster is far from over. Recovery poses the first major challenge for Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, who was inaugurated on Friday. Following a Monday night visit to Quibdo, the capital city of Chocó, the leader traveled to Pereira, a city in the Andes east of Chocó, to assess the situation at the “forefront of the emergency” and “coordinate all the capacities of the State to respond quickly and decisively to the affected communities.”
The areas surrounding the epicenter are some of Colombia’s poorest and most rural regions. They were already facing intense violence from armed groups as well as rural neglect before the earthquake hit. Now, patchy communication systems and hard-to-access villages pose logistical challenges for recovery efforts. Local authorities in El Cairo, for example, estimated that about 80 percent of the small town was damaged.
The full extent of the earthquake’s devastation, including a final death toll, will not be quickly established. “What we don’t have is a complete tally of the physical damage because it is truly massive,” Chocó’s governor, Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curi, said on Tuesday.
De la Espriella is already shaping the tragedy to his political messaging: a right-wing, tough-on-crime brand of populism, similar to the politics of El Salvador’s hard-right president Nayib Bukele and U.S. President Donald Trump. “Choco will never again be the ‘land of the forgotten,’” de la Espriella said.
Hours after de la Espriella was sworn in on Friday, the United States pledged $1 billion in security assistance to the new government to help achieve “shared goals” of fighting illegal immigration, gang violence, and drug trafficking. The U.S. State Department then pledged $15.5 million in emergency relief for Colombia on Monday. (The U.S. government similarly assisted a Trump-friendly regime in the region following devastating earthquakes in Venezuela in June, committing almost $400 million to relief efforts and loosening economic sanctions on Caracas.)
Whether de la Espriella can successfully carry his country out of this crisis remains to be seen. “My commitment is with each and every one of the affected families,” he said on X. “We remain on the ground, working for our people.”
---
**Today’s Most Read**
* **Why China’s Elites Still Want to Leave***by Yaqiu Wang*
* **Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Would Have Been a Scandal in 1973***by Julian E. Zelizer*
* **Why the United States Keeps Losing Wars***by Stephen M. Walt*
---
**What We’re Following**
**Regional war.** Violence continued in the Middle East on Tuesday, as Yemen’s Transport Ministry accused the Houthis of attacking a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and killing four crew members. The Iran-backed rebel group has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack, but it announced a blockade on Saudi shipping in the waterway last month and has carried out similar strikes since. On Tuesday, the Houthis’ chief negotiator posted a statement on X, saying that the group’s military operation
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies. This use includes personalization of content and ads, and traffic analytics. Review our Privacy Policy for more information.
!Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Get analysis and alerts more quickly in the mobile app.
Install
Back to Foreign Policy Magazine home page
* Latest
* Regions
+ Asia & the Pacific
+ China
+ Middle East & Africa
+ Americas
+ Europe
* Newsletters
Editors’ Picks
Evening roundup with our editors’ favorite stories of the day
!World Brief Icon
World Brief
Your guide to the most important world stories of the day
!China Brief Icon
China Brief
The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week
Situation Report
Weekly update on what’s driving U.S. national security policy
FP Weekend
A curation of our best book reviews, deep dives, and other reads
!Africa Brief Icon
Africa Brief
Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent
!South Asia Brief Icon
South Asia Brief
Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors
The Reading List
Curated guides on geopolitics and current affairs
FP Bookshelf
A monthly guide to FP’s book reviews, excerpts, and reading recommendations
!Latin America Brief Icon
Latin America Brief
One-stop digest of politics, economics, and culture
!Southeast Asia Brief Icon
Southeast Asia Brief
A weekly dispatch with news from the region’s 11 countries
The New Geopolitics
A five-part masterclass in IR theory with Harvard Professor Stephen M. Walt
View All Newsletters
* FP Live
* Latest
* Trending:
* Europe's record heatwave
* Gaza plan
* Ceuta's future
* Colombia's new president
Search this website
* Preferences
* My FP Feed
* Saved Articles
* Newsletters
* Magazine Archive
* Subscription Settings
* FAQs
* Log Out
Sign In
Sign In
Partner with FP at UNGA81 Partner with FP at UNGA81
Subscribe SubscribePartner with FP at UNGA81 Partner with FP at UNGA81
World Brief:
Colombia’s New President Faces His First Major Test
*
*
* Bluesky
* X
Save
Save
1. Create an FP account to save articles to read later.
Sign Up
ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN
1. **Downloadable PDFs** are a benefit of an FP subscription.
Subscribe Now
ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN
Gift
Gift
*
*
1. Gifting articles is a subscriber benefit.
Subscribe Now
ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER? LOGIN
2. This article is an Insider exclusive.
Contact us at [email protected] to learn about upgrade options, unlocking the ability to gift this article.
World Brief
FP’s flagship daily newsletter, catching you up on 24 hours of news in five minutes. Delivered weekdays.
Colombia’s New President Faces His First Major Test
President Abelardo de la Espriella took office mere days before a major earthquake struck the country.
By **Maxine Davey**, an editorial fellow at *Foreign Policy*, and **Eli Wizevich**, an editorial fellow at *Foreign Policy*.
!A person walks near a damaged car and collapsed building.
*A person walks near a damaged car and collapsed building.*
A damaged car near a collapsed building is pictured following an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia, on Aug. 11. Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images
My FP:
Follow topics and authors to get straight to what you like. Exclusively for FP subscribers. Subscribe Now | Log In
*
*
*
August 11, 2026, 3:52 PM
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at earthquake recovery efforts in **Colombia**, ongoing violence in the **Middle East**, and the persecution of **Russia**’s only antiwar party.
---
**Devastation in Colombia**
Search and rescue efforts continued across Colombia on Tuesday, as the country reels from a devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake that has left upward of 200 people dead and thousands more unaccounted for.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at earthquake recovery efforts in **Colombia**, ongoing violence in the **Middle East**, and the persecution of **Russia**’s only antiwar party.
Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.
---
**Devastation in Colombia**
Search and rescue efforts continued across Colombia on Tuesday, as the country reels from a devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake that has left upward of 200 people dead and thousands more unaccounted for.
The earthquake struck on Monday at 7:34 a.m. local time, with its epicenter near San José del Palmar, a small mountain town in the country’s western Chocó region. The quake was the most powerful one to hit the country in a decade, according to the Colombian Geological Service, which recorded 21 aftershocks by late Monday. Major cities such as Cali, Quibdo, and Pereira sustained serious damage, and an estimated 5,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed.
As first responders dig through the rubble for an estimated 3,000 missing people, the disaster is far from over. Recovery poses the first major challenge for Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, who was inaugurated on Friday. Following a Monday night visit to Quibdo, the capital city of Chocó, the leader traveled to Pereira, a city in the Andes east of Chocó, to assess the situation at the “forefront of the emergency” and “coordinate all the capacities of the State to respond quickly and decisively to the affected communities.”
The areas surrounding the epicenter are some of Colombia’s poorest and most rural regions. They were already facing intense violence from armed groups as well as rural neglect before the earthquake hit. Now, patchy communication systems and hard-to-access villages pose logistical challenges for recovery efforts. Local authorities in El Cairo, for example, estimated that about 80 percent of the small town was damaged.
The full extent of the earthquake’s devastation, including a final death toll, will not be quickly established. “What we don’t have is a complete tally of the physical damage because it is truly massive,” Chocó’s governor, Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curi, said on Tuesday.
De la Espriella is already shaping the tragedy to his political messaging: a right-wing, tough-on-crime brand of populism, similar to the politics of El Salvador’s hard-right president Nayib Bukele and U.S. President Donald Trump. “Choco will never again be the ‘land of the forgotten,’” de la Espriella said.
Hours after de la Espriella was sworn in on Friday, the United States pledged $1 billion in security assistance to the new government to help achieve “shared goals” of fighting illegal immigration, gang violence, and drug trafficking. The U.S. State Department then pledged $15.5 million in emergency relief for Colombia on Monday. (The U.S. government similarly assisted a Trump-friendly regime in the region following devastating earthquakes in Venezuela in June, committing almost $400 million to relief efforts and loosening economic sanctions on Caracas.)
Whether de la Espriella can successfully carry his country out of this crisis remains to be seen. “My commitment is with each and every one of the affected families,” he said on X. “We remain on the ground, working for our people.”
---
**Today’s Most Read**
* **Why China’s Elites Still Want to Leave***by Yaqiu Wang*
* **Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Would Have Been a Scandal in 1973***by Julian E. Zelizer*
* **Why the United States Keeps Losing Wars***by Stephen M. Walt*
---
**What We’re Following**
**Regional war.** Violence continued in the Middle East on Tuesday, as Yemen’s Transport Ministry accused the Houthis of attacking a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and killing four crew members. The Iran-backed rebel group has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack, but it announced a blockade on Saudi shipping in the waterway last month and has carried out similar strikes since. On Tuesday, the Houthis’ chief negotiator posted a statement on X, saying that the group’s military operation
🔗 Share Article
Tags:#كولومبيا#الزلازل#الكوارث الطبيعية#السياسة اللاتينية#الإغاثة الإنسانية#الطوارئ
Source: Foreign Policy
For Context
Related reads from the same topic or latest developments
