Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered immigration authorities to begin operations this week targeting migrants without legal status, prioritizing those accused of committing crimes, in what could mark a sharp shift from the migration policies pursued by Colombia’s previous governments and potentially affect hundreds of thousands of migrants, most of them Venezuelans.

“I will not accept illegal migration here. Colombians first, Colombians second and Colombians third,” De la Espriella said during an extraordinary security council meeting Sunday, August 23, in Barranquilla.

During the meeting, the president said deportations were “a presidential order that must begin to be carried out this week,” adding that he would not accept any “illegal immigrant, wherever they come from, who is committing crimes. They are leaving, and we will deport them.”

“The order to Migración is clear, and we are calling them now to give it to them: They must begin operations coordinated with the Barranquilla police to locate illegal migrants,” De la Espriella said, referring to Migración Colombia, the government agency responsible for the country’s official immigration procedures.

So far, however, the government has not provided further details about how the operations will be carried out or whether the announcement will become a broader national policy or formal government position.

Providing additional details, De la Espriella said authorities should focus “first, on those who are committing crimes. Second, on those who have not regularized their immigration status,” adding that they “will have to be deported.”

He said the position was consistent with what he advocated during his presidential campaign and described it as both a political and administrative decision.

“I take responsibility for it. I will not accept illegal migration here,” he said.

The position follows statements De la Espriella made during the campaign. “Anyone who migrates to Colombia while respecting the law will be protected and will have every guarantee. Anyone who violates immigration law will be returned to their country without any consideration,” he said in June during an interview with journalist Luis Carlos Vélez.

His remarks are also consistent with his statements over the weekend in Barranquilla and with the positions of right-wing political leaders he has cited as models, including US President Donald Trump and his hardline immigration policies.

Venezuelans could be most affected

Although De la Espriella did not explicitly refer to Venezuelans, his announcement could have a particularly significant impact on the 2.8 million Venezuelans living in Colombia, who account for nearly 90% of the country’s immigrant population.

Of those, 848,000 were in an irregular immigration situation as of January 2026, according to official Migración Colombia figures. About 193,000 of them are children and adolescents.

At the same time, Migración Colombia data show that at least 82% of Venezuelan migrants in the country had regular immigration status as of January. The remaining population has yet to fully formalize its status and includes people in the country under temporary permits who have not been able to access the Estatuto Temporal de Protección para Migrantes Venezolanos (ETPMV), or Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelan Migrants, created under the government of former President Iván Duque.

A sharp shift in Colombia’s migration policy

De la Espriella’s position represents a significant shift from the approach to migration taken by Colombia’s previous governments, including the right-wing Centro Democrático administration of Iván Duque from 2018 to 2022.

In 2021, Duque implemented the ETPMV to provide legal status for up to 10 years to nearly 2 million migrants and help guarantee access to social rights and services, including employment, education and health care.

His successor, leftist President Gustavo Petro, who governed from 2022 to 2026, expanded protections for migrants, both by facilitating the regularization of their status in Colombia and by broadening access to basic rights for adults and minors.

Petro’s government also restored diplomatic relations with Venezuela, the country of origin of the vast majority of migrants living in Colombia.

De la Espriella’s announcement therefore signals a potentially substantial change in Colombia’s approach: from policies centered largely on regularization and integration toward stronger immigration enforcement and deportation. The extent of that shift, however, will depend on how the presidential order is implemented and whether the government turns the measures announced in Barranquilla into a broader national immigration policy.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, ordered the extradition to the United States of five Colombians linked to armed and criminal organizations.

The decision, announced from San Carlos Palace, the new seat of the Colombian presidency, underscores the new administration’s shift away from former President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” policy and signals closer cooperation with the United States on extradition, drug trafficking and transnational crime.

De la Espriella said the five were individuals “whose extraditions had already been approved by the national government in 2025, but whose surrender remained suspended because of their participation as representatives in different processes, negotiations or dialogue initiatives conducted by the previous government.”

“From day one, I was clear: Peace cannot be a refuge for criminals or a mechanism for impunity,” he later wrote on X. “In 16 days in office, I have signed more than 30 extraditions, and I will continue to do so with absolute determination.”

Three in custody, two at large

The decision includes Willington Henao Gutiérrez, alias “El Mocho Olmedo,” considered the second-in-command of Front 33 of the FARC dissident groups; Carmen Evelio Castillo Carrillo, alias “Muñeca,” identified as a leader of Los Pachencas, also known as the Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada; and Geovanni Andrés Rojas, alias “Araña,” who served as a negotiating representative for Comandos de la Frontera, another FARC dissident group.

All three are in Colombian custody.

The order also covers Gabriel Yepes Mejía, alias “H.H.,” considered the leader of Comuneros del Sur, an ELN dissident group, and Freddy Castillo Carrillo, alias “Pinocho,” identified as the top leader of Los Pachencas and the brother of “Muñeca.” Both remain at large.

“Those two criminals are not in the hands of justice, but we are going to find them,” De la Espriella said.

According to the president, US authorities are seeking the five Colombians on charges that, depending on the individual case, are related to drug trafficking, criminal conspiracy, money laundering, weapons offenses and narcoterrorism.

De la Espriella said his administration reviewed the cases with the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, which he also said would be renamed, and concluded there were insufficient grounds to keep the extraditions suspended.

“After reviewing each case with the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, we found no verified contributions or concrete results by these individuals toward achieving peace. Quite the opposite: They have continued committing crimes, mocking the justice system and Colombian society,” he said.

A break with the ‘Total Peace’ policy

The announcement also marks a break with the Petro administration’s strategy of negotiating with armed and criminal organizations.

“The so-called Total Peace failed in its fundamental purpose because it opened spaces and granted benefits to members of criminal organizations without, in cases such as those before us today, demonstrating verified contributions or concrete results toward achieving peace,” De la Espriella said.

The president said his administration would replace what he called a policy of “false peace” with an approach centered on security, the rule of law and state authority, under which dialogue processes cannot be used to evade justice.

“Anyone who wants to transition to legality will have to demonstrate it through concrete and verifiable actions, and under this government there is no other way to do so than by submitting to justice,” he added.

De la Espriella warned that those who remain involved in drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime would face “the full legitimate force of the state.” Those seeking to abandon violence, he added, must do so within the framework of the Constitution and the law and by submitting to justice.

“To the criminals, I say directly, clearly and unequivocally that there will be no hiding place, privilege, negotiating table or legal device that puts them above the law and allows them to evade the determined action of justice,” he said.

A signal of cooperation with the United States

The extraditions also send a message to the United States and other international partners as Colombia’s new administration seeks to strengthen cooperation against drug trafficking and transnational crime.

De la Espriella has said security and the rule of law will be priorities for his administration and that Colombia will maintain international cooperation on extradition and efforts to combat criminal organizations.

The move comes just 16 days into his administration and follows more than 30 extradition orders that De la Espriella says he has signed since taking office.

The announcement further highlights a key difference between the security policies of De la Espriella and Petro: While the previous administration used the suspension of some extraditions as a tool in negotiations with armed and criminal groups, the new government says such benefits should remain in place only when there is concrete and verifiable progress toward peace.

The call originated with a Petro holdover, not with De la Espriella

The decision that kept foreign rescue teams out of Colombia in the first days after the August 10 earthquake did not originate with the government that has spent the past week defending it. It originated with Javier Pava Sánchez, the acting director of the country’s disaster-risk agency, an appointee of former President Gustavo Petro who was still holding the post four days into Abelardo de la Espriella’s administration, and it is set out over two pages under his own digital signature.

The letter, reviewed by Finance Colombia and filed under radicado (case reference) UNGRD 2026EE14740, tells Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar that Colombia’s own accredited capacity is sufficient and that “at this stage of the emergency, it is not necessary to request or activate the deployment of specialized international search-and-rescue teams (USAR).” The document’s embedded digital signature records a signing time of 1:45:08 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11. Pava has since said publicly that it went out at 1:20 p.m.

What the Letter Says

The earthquake struck at 7:34 a.m. on Monday, August 10, with a magnitude of 7.4 and an epicenter in the municipality of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, according to the Servicio Geológico Colombiano (Colombian Geological Survey, or SGC), as reported by Pulzo. De la Espriella had been sworn in the previous Friday and had named little more than his cabinet and a handful of front-line officials; the rest of the state was still staffed by Petro appointees or by lower-ranked officials serving on an interim basis, Madrid’s El País reported in the August 12 interview in which Pava gave his account.

Addressed to Bula at the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and signed by Pava as acting director general of the Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, or UNGRD), the letter states that the country has more than 25 groups with search-and-rescue capabilities and that Chocó, Valle del Cauca and Risaralda had been prioritized. The figure is broader than the 23 UNGRD-accredited USAR teams that Pava, El Tiempo and La Silla Vacía all cite; the letter counts groups with search-and-rescue capability rather than accredited USAR units. Its finding is conditional: should the emergency outgrow national capacity, Colombia would request support, though only from teams holding a valid classification from INSARAG, the United Nations’ International Search and Rescue Advisory Group. It thanks the international community for its offers. No country is named in it.

Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara, of the Ministerio del Interior (Interior Ministry), has described that document as the trigger under Colombian procedure. He set out the mechanism on Blu Radio on August 14. “Requesting international rescuers is not something the foreign minister does motu proprio; it is not the foreign minister’s initiative. The foreign minister is the vehicle for doing it,” he told Néstor Morales. The determination is made by the Puesto de Mando Unificado (Unified Command Post), the interagency body the UNGRD directs. “If the man at the UNGRD, who was Pava, tells the foreign minister no, then the foreign minister cannot go and request any international assistance on his own initiative. That is to say, the initiative belongs to the director of the UNGRD.” Madrid’s El País reported the same sequence from the other direction: once Pava had specified what was needed, the Foreign Ministry went to multilateral bodies and individual governments and asked for precisely that.

Four Offers, and How Pava Weighed Them

Pava told Madrid’s El País by telephone that Bula had informed him before he wrote the letter of four countries offering rescue personnel: El Salvador, Peru, Israel and the United States. His own accounts differ on when that conversation happened: he told Infobae that he met Bula at around 2 p.m. to review the offers, which would place the meeting after the letter was signed. “In Colombia we have an enormous capacity of rescue teams, we have 23 USAR groups, so I looked carefully at what they offered us,” he said. Two he rejected on certification grounds: “In the case of El Salvador, they were not certified teams, they did not have experience in these types of situations. I also told the foreign minister that Peru’s are not certified either.”

His reasoning on the other two was different. “I told him, ‘Ugh, it seems complicated to me,’ because those have a political strategy,” he said of the Israeli and US offers — the director, Madrid’s El País noted, comes from the left. He qualified it in the same breath: “Of course it is good to have help from whoever, no matter where it comes from, but you have to see what we need most and what we already have capacity covered in. Things may change in the coming days, but at that moment we had capacity covered in rescuers.” He then chose between them. “Between Israel and the United States, I prefer the United States. But not the rescuers, because we have a good team here. It seemed better to me that they send their disaster coordination experts, who have very good technology for organizing satellite information in real time.”

To Blu Radio on August 12 and to the news agency Colprensa three days later, he set out the same four decisions in technical terms, without repeating the political characterization. “There was the offer from El Salvador, from Peru, in which, let’s say, their capacity is, on the one hand, they are not certified under INSARAG rules, and on the other hand, they are medium USAR teams, an area in which we have capacity,” he told Blu Radio. On Israel: “Israel has the response team and I said: no, that is not the one that is needed at this moment, and we stayed with that first requirement.” On the United States: “It was said that we would indeed need something related to specialized groups for the technological handling of information, and that is what the United States offers.”

The Letters That Followed

Pava’s defense is that the letter was a snapshot and that he accepted foreign help the same afternoon. In a video posted to his social media accounts on August 14 and in the Colprensa interview, he said he sent two more letters that day: one at about 3 p.m. accepting the US offer of technological and coordination support, and one at 5:20 p.m. asking that offers of humanitarian aid be accepted. “That letter was issued that day at one twenty in the afternoon and corresponds to the requirement conditions at that moment,” he said in the video, according to Infobae. “It is so that toward three in the afternoon I send a new letter to the Foreign Ministry accepting the help of the United States for those activities.”

Neither of the two follow-up letters has been released, but their contents have been described consistently. Madrid’s El País reported that in a later document Pava made explicit that three field hospitals and several thousand kits of food, household goods and cookware were required, including pet food. Infobae and Colprensa describe the 5:20 p.m. letter in the same terms — hygiene and food kits, and field hospitals to reinforce care in Chocó and Pereira.

He also framed the first letter as a technical instrument rather than a refusal. “There has at no point been any intention to limit access for those groups that can help and contribute assertively,” he said in the video. “When one speaks of authorizing USAR groups or search-and-rescue groups, one is speaking of specialized groups that have been accredited by the country sending them and that are accepted in Colombia.” He said the “disinformation” around the letter carried a “perverse intention: to justify the arrival of the Israeli Army’s USAR teams in Cali,” according to La Silla Vacía.

The México Question

México’s absence from the rescue effort became a story of its own, and Pava has described it two ways four days apart. To Madrid’s El País, on the night he announced he would resign, he said Bula had not initially wanted to receive support from México, which has a left-leaning government. To Colprensa on August 15, he said he had raised México himself and been told there was nothing on the table. “What I knew on Tuesday was the offer from only those four countries,” he said. “I asked whether there were any from México or from Chile, which we have had good experiences with, and they told me there were no offers. By Wednesday I found out that there were indeed offers from other countries, but by then those were other decisions the foreign minister had made.” Asked whether political interests shaped which aid was received, he told Colprensa: “Indeed, they are political decisions taken by the Foreign Ministry. Conflict was generated because aid from some countries was prioritized over others because they are political allies. I was left with many doubts about the México matter, because the foreign minister did not speak of further offers… I was lost.”

México’s public position on August 11 was that it was waiting on Bogotá. President Claudia Sheinbaum said that day that a humanitarian package and a specialized Mexican earthquake-rescue team were ready to go but that Colombia had to approve the deployment. “We are awaiting the formal request from the Government of Colombia, but we are ready for the moment they tell us we can go and help,” she said, according to El País. Chile’s President José Antonio Kast made a similar offer. Bula has said Colombia works with countries “without any ideological or political consideration,” a remark he made at a news conference on August 12, according to Chile’s Emol, citing AFP.

Three separate Mexican groups have figured in the argument. Sheinbaum said on August 13 — by which point Pava had been out of the job for a day — that Colombia had not approved entry for the Mexican Army’s rescue brigade, and that the obstacle was documentary: “They asked for certification from Colombia. They are certified, but now they are asking for another certification,” she said, adding that the brigade “is ready to leave at any moment,” La Opinión reported. The civilian Brigada de Rescate Topos Tlatelolco separately announced it would not travel, citing Colombia’s protocols for coordinating incoming teams. A third group, the independent Topos Aztecas, was already working in Cali, La Silla Vacía reported, noting that neither Topos brigade is México’s official state rescue capability. Pava’s own comment to Madrid’s El País about the Mexican volunteers already on the ground: “The Mexican topos (moles) seem to have come without authorization, and now they have to formalize their entry in order to operate.” Sheinbaum said Colombia had requested food parcels, water and medicine. La Opinión reported that México began an operation on August 12 contemplating 58.5 tons of aid, carried by Mexican Air Force C-130 aircraft, through August 14.

The Transition That Was Called Off

Pava spent 48 hours running the earthquake response for an administration that regarded him as the previous president’s man, and he has described the relationship in those terms. “They distrusted me, and I distrusted them,” he told Madrid’s El País. “In the meetings I was a fly in the milk, because they understand that I am from Petro’s very close circle of friends, not a second-tier official.”

The institutional gap was real on both sides. De la Espriella had ordered the customary transition process with the outgoing Petro administration suspended on July 7, Infobae reported at the time, and the incoming UNGRD director had not been named when the earthquake hit. The agency had no permanent director general and none of the three subdirectors who run its core areas — risk knowledge, risk reduction and disaster management — according to El País of Cali. “The UNGRD has 130 employees on provisional appointments and more than 1,000 contractors; with that team there were only some, because others ended their contracts with the end of the government,” he said. “What I did not count on was that there was no official from the other government, that there was no replacement in the post, and that I would arrive on Monday and this earthquake would occur.” He said the agency had more than $35 billion COP available for the first hours of response. Pava had himself replaced members of the UNGRD’s management team during his two months in the post, and defended those changes when Blu Radio put the criticism to him: “At no point was any sub-directorate left abandoned; it was taken on by career staff with experience and capacity.”

What the New Director Did Next

geologist David Santiago Tamayo Roldán, De la Espriella’s own pick, was sworn in as UNGRD director on the morning of Wednesday, August 12, and the government’s position changed the same day, on Lara’s account: “As soon as the new UNGRD director, Doctor Tamayo, arrived, the first thing he did in the morning with the foreign minister was to certify that international aid would be received, and international rescuers arrived.”

That Wednesday morning the Foreign Ministry welcomed a team of 22 US experts specialized not in carrying out rescue work but in coordinating those who do — the support Pava had recommended requesting from Washington. Hours later Tamayo announced Colombia would accept international rescue teams to relieve Colombian crews as needed. More than 54 hours had passed since the earthquake, Madrid’s El País reported.

The published country lists have not matched. Emol, citing AFP, reported on August 12 that Tamayo named four countries: the United States, Israel, El Salvador and Ecuador. México’s La Jornada carried the same four. La Silla Vacía reported three — Israel, the United States and El Salvador — and Lara also said three: “Rescuers were requested from three countries because no more are needed.” He went on: “Because we also cannot receive 4,000 rescuers, because receiving them, the 4,000 rescuers, becomes an additional problem for us.”

Tamayo’s own list changed again four days later. Presenting the national balance on the evening of August 15, he said the emergency had not exceeded the country’s response capacity, while noting that Colombia had accepted specialized international support to reinforce operations. He said three UN-accredited groups were in the country — from the United States, Ecuador and Israel, a trio that drops El Salvador from the list La Silla Vacía and Lara had given; warned local officials not to authorize groups not properly certified for search and rescue; and questioned that many such groups arrive requesting large quantities of resources without the capacity to operate autonomously, El País of Cali reported. Four days after Pava’s letter, the certification threshold and the capacity finding were the new government’s position as well.

What the Capacity Numbers Show

Colombia has 23 UNGRD-accredited USAR teams and roughly 1,000 trained rescuers drawn from the Colombian Red Cross, the Defensa Civil Colombiana (Colombian Civil Defense), fire departments, the armed forces and the national police‘s specialized Ponalsar search-and-rescue unit, according to El Tiempo, which interviewed Silvia Ballén, head of the UNGRD’s national search-and-rescue program. Colombia’s USAR COL-1 team obtained its international INSARAG classification in 2018, making the country one of four in the hemisphere with a UN-certified search-and-rescue team, El Tiempo reported; a team at the heavy classification averages 64 personnel and can sustain field work for seven to 10 days.

Lara said the constraint in some regions was demand, not supply. “In Quibdó 160 rescuers were left idle, with their arms crossed, because there was nothing left to search for or rescue,” he said, adding that they could be moved to Pereira, Dosquebradas or Cali but that local officials were reporting sufficient coverage: “Both the governor and the mayor, the mayors of these cities, tell us that there are enough rescuers.” La Silla Vacía reported that from Wednesday night several regions began closing the rescue phase, with Quibdó moving to reconstruction, Buenaventura expected to follow, and towns such as Quimbaya, in Quindío, requiring no rescue operations because there were no missing persons.

The View From Outside

Foreign governments spent August 11 asking whom to talk to. China’s ambassador to Colombia, Zhu Jingyang, asked the government to name an official and an official liaison for coordinating international assistance. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele confirmed publicly that Colombia had declined rescue personnel: “The Government of Colombia has requested humanitarian aid only in the form of supplies to assist the families affected by the earthquake,” he wrote on his social media accounts. “We have been informed that its rescue teams, medical teams and other emergency bodies are deployed and attending to the situation, so that at this moment they do not require personnel support.” El Salvador said it would send two cargo planes with 100 tons of supplies instead; Emol reported the shipment arrived. Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, made a similar request for a clear and organized response to the offers on the table, Madrid’s El País reported. Laerke also confirmed that the United Nations had received no formal request for assistance from Colombia, while saying the UN system stood ready to provide all the support within its reach, according to Infobae.

The United States was the exception. Washington announced $15.5 million USD in aid for emergency shelter, food, protection and damage assessment, and the State Department said it had activated a Disaster Assistance Response Team on Monday that would arrive in Colombia on Tuesday. Colombia issued a diplomatic note on Tuesday requesting specific support from the international community, short of a formal international appeal. UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrote that day that “the United Nations remains in close contact with the Colombian authorities and supports the government-led response, as requested.” Infobae reported that Pacto Histórico (Historic Pact) politicians including former Senator María José Pizarro and Representative Mafe Carrascal were pressing De la Espriella to request UN help. On August 12, Israel’s government said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered an aid delegation dispatched “following a request from Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella,” according to Semana.

Where It Stands

Lara has been summoned to Congress to account for the government’s handling of the emergency. “On Tuesday we were summoned to Congress, we have been summoned, I was summoned to Congress so that we explain this situation,” he said, adding: “Watching how they make politics out of this tragedy — that is scavenger politics, frankly. Let’s drop it now.”

The UNGRD’s latest national balance, with a cutoff of 6:30 p.m. on August 15, records 289 people dead, 3,937 injured, 143 missing and 353 rescued across 15 departments and 448 municipalities, with 117,222 people affected. The death toll was revised down from 294 reported that morning and the missing figure from 320, after the agency cross-checked municipal reports against records held by the Fiscalía General de la Nación (Attorney General’s Office), the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses (National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences) and relief agencies to remove duplicates. Pava has pointed to that volatility in his own defense, telling Colprensa that on the Monday “I had an assessment far below what exists today,” and that at the time of his meeting with Bula the assessment showed the main sites requiring rescue were covered and that what was missing was coordination support and some technological capability.ungrd-carta-a-minexterior.

Full Translation: The UNGRD Letter to Colombia’s Foreign Ministry

The following is Finance Colombia’s translation of the original Spanish-language letter (radicado UNGRD 2026EE14740, dated August 11, 2026, digitally signed at 1:45 p.m.), sent by the UNGRD to Colombia’s Foreign Ministry:

Bogotá D.C.,
Doctor
Omar Bula Escobar
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Calle 10 No. 5 – 51. Palacio de San Carlos

Subject: Update on national search-and-response capacity in light of the earthquake that occurred in Colombia on August 10, 2026.

Dear Minister:

As part of the response to the emergency caused by the 7.4 Mw-magnitude earthquake recorded on August 10, 2026, with its epicenter in the municipality of San José del Palmar, department of Chocó, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) wishes to report on the current status of the response and the capabilities available within national territory.

According to information consolidated by the UNGRD’s National Crisis Room, the coordinating entity for risk management in Colombia, and taking into account that the assessment of damages and needs continues to be updated, different territories have been prioritized, particularly the departments of Chocó, Valle del Cauca and Risaralda, according to the needs identified in each of them.

With regard to search and rescue in collapsed structures, Colombia is carrying out response actions through its specialized national capabilities, with search-and-rescue groups accredited by the Government of Colombia, deployed and coordinated through the National Disaster Risk Management System.

At this hour, the country has more than 25 groups with search-and-rescue capabilities, which are sufficient to meet the operational needs identified in the affected areas. Based on the assessment carried out so far and on the national capabilities available, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, through its Search and Rescue Program, considers that, at this stage of the emergency, it is not necessary to request or activate the deployment of specialized international search-and-rescue teams (USAR).

This determination corresponds to the current state of the emergency and is subject to ongoing monitoring of conditions on the ground. Should the emergency evolve, or should the identification of new needs exceed available national capabilities, the Government of Colombia will promptly communicate, through established official channels, its specific requirements for international assistance and, if necessary, may request support solely from international search-and-rescue teams holding the corresponding INSARAG classification.

In this regard, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management expresses its deep gratitude to the international community for its expressions of solidarity and for the offers of technical, operational and humanitarian support in search and rescue received through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UNGRD.

Colombia maintains active mechanisms of coordination and information exchange with the international community and, in particular, is reporting on the evolution of the response and available capabilities through the corresponding international coordination mechanisms, including the Virtual OSOCC (Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Centre) platform, within the framework of United Nations mechanisms for coordinating search-and-rescue operations.

Sincerely,

Javier Pava Sánchez
Director General (Acting)

Prepared by: Laura Manuela Bermúdez Caro, contractor, International Cooperation Group – UNGRD
Reviewed by: Nicolás Fernández de Soto, International Cooperation Liaison to the Director General’s Office – UNGRD
Reviewed by: Antonio José López Reales, Coordinator, International Cooperation Group – UNGRD
Reviewed by: Silvia Carolina Ballén Sánchez, Specialized Professional, Management Sub-Directorate – UNGRD
Reviewed by: Johana Andrea Rangel Franco, Specialized Professional, Management Sub-Directorate – UNGRD

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Who Is Javier Pava Sánchez?

Javier Pava Sánchez is a geological engineer, a specialist in risk evaluation and disaster prevention and a master’s graduate in territorial planning and population dynamics, according to El Tiempo. Petro appointed him to lead the UNGRD in 2022, and returned him to the agency as acting director through Decree 0611 of June 16, 2026, after the Procuraduría General de la Nación (Inspector General’s Office) suspended director Carlos Carrillo over alleged improper political activity. Carrillo said the measure surprised him and rejected it, telling reporters, according to Infobae: “At no time did I campaign, I never promoted any candidate nor did I request electoral support for any campaign.”

Pava was still the UNGRD’s acting director when he signed the August 11 letter, announced that night that he would step down, and was replaced by Tamayo on the morning of August 12. He remains acting manager of the Fondo Adaptación (Adaptation Fund), another agency in the sector for which the new government has not named a replacement, Madrid’s El País reported. Two days after leaving the UNGRD, in the video responding to Lara, he said: “I want to state to Colombia that I have acted responsibly in the exercise of my functions and consistently with the government I represent, which is the government of President Petro.”

Above image: Javier Pava Sánchez speaks during a meeting at UNGRD headquarters in Bogotá. (Photo: UNGRD handout)

Fiber and 5G expansion signal steady digital infrastructure gains

Colombia’s fixed internet market continued to expand during the first quarter of 2026, reaching 10.49 million accesses in March, approximately 950,000 more than a year earlier, according to the latest Boletín Trimestral del Sector TIC (Quarterly ICT Sector Bulletin) published by Colombia’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC).

The bulletin, which covers January through March, also recorded 10 million 5G accesses during the quarter, representing 7.7% growth from the previous quarter. The figures point to continued expansion of higher-capacity connectivity even as traditional fixed-line telephony continues to decline. The full bulletin is available through the Colombia TIC statistics portal.

“This figure confirms the advance in the expansion of network coverage and capacity.” – MinTIC, in its Quarterly ICT Sector Bulletin

Fiber drives fixed internet growth

Average fixed internet download speeds reached 255.2 Mbps nationally in March, an increase of 17.5 Mbps from a year earlier. Fiber optic connections continued to account for the largest share of fixed internet access, with 6.2 million accesses recorded during the quarter.

Fixed internet penetration reached 19 accesses per 100 inhabitants, continuing the growth trend reported since 2023.

Bogotá recorded the country’s highest fixed internet penetration, at 31 accesses per 100 inhabitants. Antioquia recorded the highest average residential download speeds, exceeding 335 Mbps.

The latest figures reinforce the expansion of fixed broadband infrastructure as Colombia moves toward higher-capacity networks.

5G adoption reaches 10 million

Mobile internet access remained comparatively stable during the first quarter, with 49.6 million accesses recorded nationally. Mobile internet penetration stood at 93 accesses per 100 inhabitants.

4G remained the country’s dominant mobile technology, with 36.5 million accesses. At the same time, 5G adoption continued to accelerate, reaching 10 million accesses, a 7.7% increase from the previous quarter.

Despite that growth, 5G coverage remains geographically limited. MinTIC reported that the technology was available in approximately 12% of Colombia’s municipalities during the quarter.

The expansion follows continued investment in next-generation mobile infrastructure. Finance Colombia previously reported on operators beginning 5G network trials in Colombia while continuing to expand 4G coverage.

Mobile telephony widens its lead over fixed lines

The country’s reliance on mobile communications was also reflected in the latest telephony figures. Colombia had 94.6 million mobile phone lines during the quarter, substantially exceeding the number of fixed lines.

Fixed-line telephony continued its long-term decline. Active fixed lines fell by approximately 760,000 from a year earlier, reaching 5.35 million.

The contrasting trends highlight the changing structure of Colombia’s telecommunications market. Fixed broadband and fiber networks are expanding while mobile connectivity continues to dominate communications and traditional fixed telephony contracts.

The Q1 bulletin provides the latest official snapshot of Colombia’s digital infrastructure as operators continue expanding fiber and 5G networks. Subsequent quarterly data will show whether the pace of 5G adoption and fixed broadband growth continues through the remainder of 2026.

Headline Photo: A man with his phone and beside a 5G pole. (Photo provided by Mintic)

The 41st edition of ANDICOM, an information and communications technology congress organized by CINTEL, is underway in Cartagena through September 4, 2026. Ahead of the congress, Finance Colombia founder Loren Moss spoke with Hernán Díaz, academic coordinator of ANDICOM, about what more than 6,000 attendees and more than 180 speakers from 40 countries would find on this year’s agenda.

“This will be the largest academic agenda we’ve had in our history,” Díaz said, noting that ANDICOM 2026 is spread across two venues for the first time, the Las Américas complex and the Hotel Faranda Collection. CINTEL, the Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (Center for Research and Development in Information and Communications Technologies), runs technology-adoption projects with Colombian government bodies including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology alongside private-sector clients.

This year’s theme, “Unleashing the Power of AI,” organizes the program around four pillars: artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital trust, connectivity and digital infrastructure, and public policy and regulation. Manuel Martínez Niño, CINTEL’s executive director, told El Universal that the congress has become the most important gathering of its kind not only in Colombia but in Latin America, bringing together authorities, government, business, academia, multilateral banks and legislators to work on the country’s digital inclusion.

The congress opened September 1 with the ANDICOM Knowledge Hub at the Faranda Collection, running two parallel sessions Díaz called central to the week: one on the transition to post-quantum cryptography, ahead of what Díaz said industry estimates place around 2029 as the point when quantum computers could break current encryption standards, and another on AI governance and the oversight of autonomous agents.

The European Union is this year’s guest of honor, sending a diplomatic and commercial delegation for sessions on the bloc’s approach to AI regulation, cybersecurity and quantum computing. European companies account for 22% of foreign direct investment in Colombia’s technology sector and have created more than 120,000 jobs in the country, according to figures CINTEL presented for the congress and reported by Cartagena al Día.

Wednesday’s opening ceremony was expected to include Colombia’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Alexandra Falla Zerrate, along with European Union representatives outlining the new government’s technology road map. The day’s keynote speakers included Pilar Manchón, senior director of research strategy at Google AI (NASDAQ: GOOGL), who has described artificial intelligence as “the most profound and transformative technology humanity has ever developed,” and Marc Reguera, worldwide general manager for Microsoft Fabric (NASDAQ: MSFT) customer engagement, on the next generation of intelligent business applications. A separate afternoon panel brought together Julissa Cruz, director of sustainable digital infrastructure at CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean; Alexia González Fanfalone, head of the connectivity services and infrastructures unit at the OECD; Carlos Lugo Silva of the International Telecommunication Union; and a public-policy representative from Amazon Web Services to compare regulatory experiences across countries. In parallel at the Faranda Collection, a forum on financing digital infrastructure and connectivity brought in the European Investment Bank, the World Bank and Colombia’s Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional.

Thursday’s agenda centered on a regulatory panel gathering officials from across the region: Gonzalo Balseiro, president of Uruguay’s Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones (Communications Services Regulatory Unit); Sergio Sotomayor Rodríguez, director of Colombia’s National Spectrum Agency; Felipe Augusto Díaz Suaza, executive director of the Comisión de Regulación de Comunicaciones (Communications Regulation Commission); and Lucas Gallitto, head of Latin America and the Caribbean for the GSMA. The day also featured a panel of telecommunications-company executives from WOM, Claro, Tigo and LinkMax discussing the sector’s challenges and opportunities.

Friday’s keynote speakers included Eric Martorell Bouvier of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE), on digital sovereignty and data infrastructure. Díaz said the closing keynote was expected to include President Abelardo de la Espriella, who was set to address technology and AI as drivers of the country’s economic and social development.

Díaz pointed to a Wednesday afternoon session on AI in the creative industries, covering the technology’s use in music and film production, as one he was personally looking forward to. The congress’s commercial exhibition includes more than 215 companies, and its mobile app lets attendees flag sessions and schedule meetings, a feature Díaz said has become central to the networking Loren Moss described as one of ANDICOM’s main draws.

Interest-rate incentives tie $400 million USD to CO2 intensity

LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE: LTM; Santiago Stock Exchange: LTM) has closed a loan of approximately $505 million USD to finance 11 new aircraft, $400 million USD of which is sustainability-linked, with an interest rate that can improve as the group cuts the carbon intensity of its operations. The company announced the financing in a statement issued from Bogotá on August 25, 2026, and described the sustainability-linked portion as the largest transaction of its kind the group has completed.

The aircraft, scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2026, are one Airbus (Euronext Paris: AIR; Frankfurt Stock Exchange: AIR; Spanish stock exchanges: AIR) A320neo, four Airbus A321neo and six Embraer (NYSE: EMBJ; B3: EMBJ3) E195-E2 jets. The long-term loan is led by BNP Paribas (Euronext Paris: BNP). LATAM said the deal gives it access to competitive long-term funding at a time of market volatility and high fuel costs.

Under the loan’s terms, LATAM can obtain better financing conditions as it reduces its emissions intensity, the amount of CO2 it emits per unit transported. The company said the incentives are aligned with its targets of cutting emissions intensity 6% by 2030 compared with 2019 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Andrés del Valle, LATAM’s corporate finance director, said the structure allows the group, for the first time, to finance the addition of Embraer aircraft through this type of loan.

“This transaction combines three elements that are relevant to LATAM’s financial strategy: it diversifies our sources of financing, supports the renewal and growth of our fleet, and links part of its terms to our sustainability performance.”

— Andrés del Valle, corporate finance director, LATAM Airlines Group

A Repeat Lender and a Second Sustainability-Linked Deal

The transaction is LATAM’s second sustainability-linked financing. In December 2024, the group closed a $300 million USD revolving credit facility secured by engines, which it described as the first sustainability-linked loan by a South American airline. BNP Paribas also took part in that deal, alongside Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, and its pricing adjustments were tied to LATAM’s tons of CO2 emitted per revenue ton-kilometer.

The Embraer Order Behind the Deal

LATAM ordered the E195-E2 from Embraer in September 2025, signing for 24 firm aircraft plus 50 purchase options. The firm portion is valued at approximately $2.1 billion USD at list prices, according to Embraer. The manufacturer said deliveries would start in the second half of 2026, initially for LATAM Airlines Brasil, with the jets potentially going to other LATAM affiliates later. LATAM said the E195-E2 will join Brazil’s domestic network in the coming months, and its first Airbus A321XLR is scheduled to debut in 2027.

The financing is part of a fleet renewal that LATAM expects to take it past 410 aircraft by the end of 2026. The group added 13 new-generation aircraft in the first half of the year and expects 28 more before year-end, for more than 40 additions in 2026. Toward 2030, LATAM projects adding up to 130 more aircraft, which would make more than half of its fleet new-generation models. Citing the manufacturers, LATAM said those models emit 20% to 25% less CO2 than earlier generations.

LATAM, whose American depositary shares returned to the New York Stock Exchange in 2024, operates domestic airlines in five Latin American markets: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It also flies international routes within Latin America and to Europe, the US, Oceania, Africa and the Caribbean.

Headline photo: A rendering of an Embraer E195-E2 in LATAM livery over Santiago, Chile. (Rendering courtesy Embraer)

Three announcements by the United States in the first days of President Abelardo de la Espriella’s administration have raised questions about the scope of Colombia’s renewed security and economic relationship with Washington.

The announcements involve joint US-Colombian military operations against narcoterrorism, Colombia’s entry into a regional security coalition, and a proposed $1 billion USD assistance package. While all three signal a significant strengthening of bilateral relations, important questions remain about their implementation, legal framework, funding, and oversight.

First: Joint US-Colombian military operations

Colombia has authorized the United States to conduct joint military operations as part of its fight against drug trafficking, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday, August 12, in Panama.

According to Hegseth, the cooperation follows new Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella’s decision to join an anti-drug coalition led by US President Donald Trump. Hegseth made the announcement during a meeting of the alliance, which brings together about 20 countries, in Panama City. Colombia’s defense minister, retired Gen. Jorge Eduardo Mora, attended the meeting.

“Colombia has already requested that the War Department join Colombia in its fight against narcoterrorism, authorizing joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terrorist networks,” Hegseth stated during the meeting.

The announcement is consistent with De la Espriella’s security policy. In his first speech as president, he emphasized the need to confront “narcoterrorism and all criminal organizations without respite.”

But the announcement also raises several questions that the Colombian government will have to address, beginning with what it means by “joint military operations.”

If those operations involve authorizing the presence of armed US military personnel on Colombian territory, congressional authorization could be required. Article 173 of Colombia’s Constitution establishes that the Senate has the authority to “permit the transit of foreign troops through Colombian territory.”

Colombia has maintained a close military relationship with the United States for decades. The two countries have developed training programs, intelligence-sharing arrangements, counternarcotics efforts and interdiction operations. That relationship also included US financing for Plan Colombia beginning in the early 2000s under former President Álvaro Uribe, with Washington providing more than $10 billion.

However, military cooperation and joint training are one thing; the authorization announced by Hegseth to conduct joint military operations involving US forces is potentially broader in scope and raises questions about precisely where and how those operations would take place.

The bilateral relationship had been strained by disputes between Trump and Colombia’s previous president, leftist Gustavo Petro. De la Espriella has made restoring close ties with Washington one of his foreign policy priorities.

Second: Colombia joins Escudo de las Américas

During the same remarks, Hegseth said the United States and its partners would “defend our hemisphere from external threats” and announced that Colombia would join the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, or A3C, also known as Escudo de las Américas.

“I’m also proud to announce that Colombia will join the A3C, becoming the 19th member. And through the newly inaugurated president, as our president likes to say, ‘President El Tigre,’ Colombia has requested that the Department of War join Colombia in its fight against narcoterrorism” Hegseth said.

During the event, Hegseth met with Mora to formalize Colombia’s entry into Escudo de las Américas.

“It is the beginning of a new stage in defense cooperation between the United States and Colombia,” according to the announcement.

However, the Colombian government has yet to publicly provide detailed information explaining what membership entails, what resources Colombia will commit, what specific objectives have been established or what oversight mechanisms will be implemented to safeguard human rights, international humanitarian law and protections for civilians.

“The minister emphasized that transnational threats do not recognize borders and that no state can confront them in isolation. Consequently, Colombia has offered to place its capabilities and experience at the service of hemispheric security, leading strategic efforts in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea alongside the nations that make up the coalition. The purpose is unequivocal: to prevent criminal organizations from replacing state authority and to guarantee that, throughout the territory, the Constitution, the law and the legitimate monopoly on the use of force prevail,” Colombia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The announcement establishes Colombia’s participation in the coalition, but further information from the government will be necessary to determine how that commitment will translate into operations, funding and accountability mechanisms.

Third: A proposed $1 billion US assistance package

Immediately after De la Espriella’s inauguration on August 7, the United States announced its intention to provide Colombia with a $1 billion USD assistance package.

In a statement, the US State Department described the proposal as a “cornerstone” of the renewed relationship between the two governments, saying that “the United States, working with Congress, intends to announce $1 billion USD in assistance as part of a security package to support President de la Espriella’s Administration in achieving our shared goals.”

According to the same statement, the funding would focus on dismantling transnational narcoterrorism networks, including by strengthening security forces, disrupting the operations of transnational terrorist organizations, expanding coca eradication programs, intercepting cocaine shipments, curbing illegal immigration and protecting minors from recruitment.

The package would also seek to expand economic opportunities. The State Department said De la Espriella’s “pro-growth agenda and openness to US investment creates an opportunity to increase trade and deepen economic ties between our countries.”

But the $1 billion USD is not yet guaranteed.

The funding is subject to approval by the US Congress, and the legislative process required to authorize the resources has not yet begun.

The timing adds another layer of uncertainty. The United States will hold its midterm elections on November 3, 2026, with control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate at stake, along with several governorships. The outcome could influence the congressional dynamics surrounding approval of the resources announced by the Trump administration.

Taken together, the three announcements point to a rapid expansion of Colombia’s relationship with the United States under De la Espriella. But they also leave significant questions unanswered, particularly about the scope and legal basis of joint military operations, Colombia’s commitments under Escudo de las Américas and whether the proposed $1 billion USD assistance package will ultimately secure congressional approval in Washington.

María Consuelo Araújo, a former Cabinet minister and foreign minister who has served in several right-wing governments in Colombia, will become the country’s new ambassador to the United States as President Abelardo de la Espriella’s administration seeks to strengthen ties with Washington on security, trade and cooperation.

De la Espriella confirmed the appointment Monday, August 17, after the US government granted diplomatic approval for Araújo’s nomination.

“I have just been notified by the US Embassy in Colombia that approval has been granted for the person I nominated as Colombia’s ambassador to the United States. I am pleased to inform the country that my good friend, someone I have trusted and held dear for many years, will be the new Colombian ambassador to the United States: María Consuelo Araújo Castro,” De la Espriella said in a message posted on social media.

Araújo will take on one of the main foreign policies challenges De la Espriella has emphasized since his presidential campaign: strengthening relations with the United States following tensions under the previous government and coordinating economic, trade and security matters with President Donald Trump’s administration.

A relationship De la Espriella seeks to strengthen

The rapprochement between the two governments began during the first days of Colombia’s new administration.

On August 8, one day after De la Espriella took office, the US government announced plans to provide a $1 billion aid package to Colombia, which still requires approval from the US Congress. That came in addition to $15.5 million offered by the State Department for emergency shelter, food and protection for victims of the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck August 10.

Read “United States Pledges $1 Billion in Security Assistance to Colombia’s New de la Espriella Government.”

Security cooperation is also playing a central role in the renewed bilateral relationship. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday, August 12, that the Colombian government had authorized joint military operations to combat narcoterrorism, which would make Colombia the fourth country in the region to give the green light to operations involving US forces.

Colombia also joined the Shield of the Americas (Escudo de las Américas) initiative, which brings together right-wing governments in the region to confront threats including terrorism, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.

On the economic front, De la Espriella said he had already held a roughly 10-minute phone call with Trump.

“I deeply thanked him for all the economic assistance and the support of US rescue teams in the face of the tragedy we are experiencing. President Trump also expressed his condolences for the victims of the earthquake and his solidarity with the Colombian families affected. I told him that we have an enormous challenge ahead: rebuilding Colombia amid the very difficult and apocalyptic economic situation I inherited,” De la Espriella said on X.

The Colombian president also said he used the conversation to raise one of the main outstanding trade issues between the two countries.

“I also asked him to consider temporarily suspending the high tariffs affecting Colombian products in order to provide relief to our businesses, which are facing very difficult circumstances because of the effects of the earthquake,” he added.

Araújo will therefore arrive in Washington with talks between the two governments already underway and with reducing or suspending US tariffs on Colombian products among the key issues on her agenda.

A former foreign minister returns to diplomacy despite family ties to paramilitary scandals

Araújo has an extensive career in the public sector and comes from a political family in the northern Colombian department of Cesar, with longstanding ties to the Partido Liberal, one of Colombia’s traditional political parties and now part of De la Espriella’s governing coalition.

According to her professional profile, she studied finance and international relations at Universidad Externado de Colombia and completed postgraduate studies in government, management and public affairs at Columbia University in New York.

During former President Álvaro Uribe’s administration, she served as culture minister from 2002 to 2006 and later became foreign minister during his second term.

Araújo resigned as foreign minister in 2007 amid the “parapolitics” scandal, which involved members of her family. Her brother, former Partido Liberal congressman Álvaro Araújo Castro, and her cousin Hernando Molina Araújo, a former governor of Cesar, were convicted. Her father, Álvaro Araújo Noguera, also faced criminal proceedings over an alleged kidnapping, although the case was later closed and he was released.

The new ambassador has also held several positions in Bogotá’s city government, including director of the Instituto Distrital de Recreación y Deporte (IDRD), head of the Secretaría Distrital de Integración Social and general manager of TransMilenio, the capital’s public transportation system, during the administration of then-Mayor Enrique Peñalosa.

In 2026, she became executive president of the Cámara Colombiana de la Infraestructura (CCI), a position she held until her appointment as ambassador to the United States.

Her arrival in Washington marks a return to the forefront of Colombian foreign policy nearly two decades after her tenure as foreign minister. Araújo will assume the diplomatic post as the new government seeks to rapidly deepen ties with the Trump administration, expand cooperation on security and economic assistance and, at the same time, secure trade relief for Colombian exports affected by US tariffs.

Colombia’s Congress elected Jorge Eliécer Laverde on Wednesday, August 12, as the country’s new comptroller general for the 2026-2030 term, a key position within the state’s oversight system responsible for monitoring the management of public resources, including those administered by President Abelardo de la Espriella’s government.

The election took place during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, with 269 of the 286 members of Congress participating: 95 senators and 174 representatives. The other 17 lawmakers either did not attend the session or abstained from voting.

Laverde, a lawyer with ties to the Partido Liberal, had served since 2015 as secretary of the Senate’s Sixth Committee, which handles matters related to public services, transportation, education, communications and technological development.

He will now lead the Contraloría General de la República, Colombia’s highest fiscal oversight body, for four years. His main responsibilities will include overseeing the management of public funds and assets, determining fiscal liability when resources are misused and pursuing proceedings aimed at recovering state funds.

“We will adopt global standards to pursue assets and fight corruption anywhere in the world. We will be the home of transparency and a technical institution at the service of the Colombian people,” Laverde said after his election.

“I will defend all citizens under an unwavering premise: zero political persecution, zero impunity. The Contraloría will not be a political weapon, but it will have all the resolve and authority necessary to punish, without distinction, anyone who touches public funds,” he added.

An election without direct government backing

Laverde’s candidacy received support from several parties backing the new government, although neither Salvación Nacional, De la Espriella’s party, nor the executive branch directly participated in selecting the candidate.

The president and his interior minister, Rodrigo Lara Restrepo, chose to remain on the sidelines to avoid becoming involved in another political dispute with the opposition after the executive branch suffered a defeat in the election of the Senate president at the beginning of the new legislative term.

Lara publicly acknowledged the government’s decision not to participate in the comptroller general election and urged its allies not to strike deals with or support the Pacto Histórico, which he described as an “opposition party and enemy of the government.” A similar situation occurred during the election of the Senate president, when the government lost because of an alliance between the Centro Democrático and the opposition Pacto Histórico, led by former President Gustavo Petro.

Laverde’s candidacy, however, ultimately drew support from different political sectors.

Before the vote, the Centro Democrático, Partido Liberal, Partido Conservador, Partido de la U and Cambio Radical issued a joint letter saying Laverde possessed “the highest professional, technical and personal qualifications to exercise this important responsibility,” backed by “a recognized career, extensive experience and deep knowledge of public affairs.”

Even the Pacto Histórico, the main left-wing opposition force led by former President Gustavo Petro, announced its support for Laverde hours before the vote.

“Our decision responds to the need for an independent, transparent Contraloría that firmly defends public resources,” the congressional bloc said on Facebook.

A key position in the system of checks and balances

Although Laverde received the backing of parties allied with the executive branch, his election also puts Colombia’s system of separation of powers and checks and balances to the test.

The Contraloría General de la República is the state’s highest fiscal oversight body, primarily responsible for ensuring that public resources and assets are managed efficiently and transparently and for determining liability when they are misused.

Its oversight extends to resources administered by the different branches of government, including the executive branch headed by De la Espriella, as well as Congress and the judiciary. The election of the comptroller general is therefore particularly sensitive for any administration because the officeholder must exercise fiscal oversight over the national government throughout the four-year term.

The election takes on additional significance in the current political landscape: Although the new government has allies in Congress, no political force holds a sufficient majority on its own, requiring agreements among different parties to secure major legislative and institutional decisions.

Before joining Congress, Laverde worked as a judicial attorney at the Procuraduría Regional de Risaralda and served as a member of the Caldas Departmental Assembly, in his home department.

His more than a decade working inside Congress has given him extensive knowledge of how the legislative branch operates. Since 2015, he had served as secretary of the Senate’s Sixth Committee, a position from which he participated in the consideration of initiatives involving some of the country’s major areas of public policy.

That career now presents a significant shift in responsibilities: After more than 10 years working within Congress, Laverde will lead one of the institutions responsible for overseeing the use of public resources, including those administered by the same branch of government where he previously worked.