Colombian President Abelardo de la Esprilla has asked his ally, US President Donald Trump, to suspend tariffs to help the South American country recover from a powerful earthquake that killed at least 289 people.
De la Espriilla took office earlier this month, just days before the 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck. He enjoyed Trump’s support in Colombia’s hotly contested presidential election, which was decided in a runoff on June 21, and has sought to underscore his ties with the US president.
On Saturday night, de la Espriilla wrote on X that he spoke with Trump and thanked him for the aid sent by the United States in response to the earthquake. He added that he was “asked to consider temporarily suspending the high customs duties affecting Colombian products, in order to provide relief to our businessmen, who are facing very difficult times due to the effects of the earthquake.”
There was no immediate response from the Trump administration to de la Espriilla’s request. The United States has offered a total of US$26.5 million in earthquake aid, including food, shelters and health supplies, according to the US State Department.
The earthquake that struck Monday morning devastated parts of western Colombia, hitting cities including Pereira, Cali and Quibdo. Cities along the country’s Pacific coast were severely affected. The president declared the earthquake a natural disaster.
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The government said 143 people were missing, while other civilian-run databases put the number in the thousands.
The natural disaster, whose epicenter was in one of the country’s poorest regions, Chocó, has injured 3,937 people so far, according to the government. In addition, it destroyed 14,705 homes and damaged 81,536 others.
In Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city, workers searched for more than 70 people reported missing in that city. Hope remained alive even after it took 48 to 72 hours to find survivors under the rubble.
Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder of the Unified Command Center said that “miracles happen” even though more than 120 hours have passed since the earthquake. “We work where we know there are still victims; we work in the hope of saving people alive.”
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