CALI, Colombia—Most elected officials enter office with an agenda for a better future, and most want to get to work implementing it immediately. Sooner or later, however, that agenda must compete with the urgent, unexpected demands of the present. For newly minted Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, the time between being sworn in and facing his first major emergency was barely a weekend.
On Monday, Colombians awoke to a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in San José del Palmar in southeastern Chocó. The extent of the damage has yet to be fully assessed, with at least 240 reported dead as of Wednesday morning. Videos of rescue workers combing through flattened buildings and collapsed houses shows the extent of the relief efforts already underway. The epicenter was less than sixty miles from Pereira, where de la Espriella has said he will personally oversee these efforts. His focus will naturally be on marshaling state resources to help Colombians affected across the country. Colombia will also need all the help it can get from the international community, with offers of support already pouring in.
Three days earlier, the picture was entirely different. On Friday, de la Espriella assumed office in an inauguration ceremony, which I attended, at the Arena USC on the campus of Universidad Santiago de Cali. Many of the Colombians I spoke with in the 2,200-person-capacity venue shared high hopes about what this next chapter could deliver.
