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Colombia’s right-wing government on Wednesday rejected accusations that it had turned down earthquake assistance because of political ideology, after initially accepting rescue teams from countries with conservative-led administrations.
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake has killed 239 people and has become an early challenge for President Abelardo de la Espriella, who assumed office last Friday.
The government came under scrutiny after it emerged that Colombia had formally accepted rescue teams from only Ecuador, El Salvador, the United States and Israel.
Officials moved to dismiss claims that political considerations were influencing the distribution of international assistance or putting lives at risk.
“We have been working around the clock to coordinate offers of humanitarian aid”, said Foreign Minister Omar Bula.
“Many countries have offered assistance, and it is our responsibility to organise that aid.”
Bula said Colombia had also facilitated substantial donations from other countries, despite not accepting their rescue teams.
“We have facilitated several significant donations, and aircraft are arriving in the country: 100 tonnes offered by the government of El Salvador.
“Another flight from Mexico is headed to the hardest-hit areas… 58.5 tonnes from the Mexican government”, he said.
“We have not excluded any country.”
Earlier, reports emerged that some of Mexico’s renowned volunteer rescuers, known as “topos”, or moles, had been barred from taking part in search-and-rescue operations.
David Tamayo, head of Colombia’s disaster relief agency, said the decision was based on the qualifications and capacity of the teams rather than political considerations.
“We will only be accepting support from these countries, which can guarantee search-and-rescue teams that are recognised both by the international system and by their own governments as qualified for this work,” he said.
“These teams are entirely self-sufficient,” he added.
“They will not require additional resources from municipal authorities. They are arriving with their own equipment, food supplies fully provided.”
Tamayo added that Colombia’s own trained search-and-rescue personnel had not yet been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster.
