Petro slams Colombia earthquake response, questions Israel aid
Key Takeaways
- Petro accused the government of failing to use existing emergency resources.
- He questioned Israel's involvement and the experience of its rescuers.
- The earthquake has left 319 people dead, 4,469 injured and 260 missing.
The former president accused Abelardo de la Espriella's government of failing to use available emergency resources and questioned aid sent by Israel.
Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday accused President Abelardo de la Espriella's government of failing to use resources and capabilities deployed during his administration to respond to the earthquake emergency.
"It is undeniable that the capacity deployed by my government in public health and the territorial presence of healthcare was not used due to sectarianism and ignorance," he stated in an address from Bogota.
Petro also accused the government of allowing an Israeli 'military intelligence' operation on Colombian territory during the emergency and questioned the experience of rescuers sent by Israel.
"Do not bring those who knock down buildings with live children inside the buildings. They do not know about this; they come for something else," he said.
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Petro also questioned why the Benkos Bioho Hospital Ship, intended to provide healthcare in coastal and riverine communities, remained in the port of Buenaventura for seven days during the emergency.
"The ship could have dropped off health teams along the coast and even gone up the rivers of the Pacific," Petro noted, adding that during his administration it had carried out 7,882 operations along the coastline.
According to Petro, his government had left 9,000 million pesos, about 2.9 million dollars, for an immediate response following an earthquake. He said the destination of those resources remains unknown.
He also criticised the government's response during the first 100 hours of the emergency, which he described as 'fundamental'.
"The inability of the incoming government's handover engineered by Abelardo turned those hours into a disaster, a disaster greater than the one that already existed," he added.
Petro also questioned the government's rejection of some international aid and asserted that the decision to 'politicise it' had consequences for the number of victims.
The official earthquake toll stands at 319 dead, 4,469 injured and 260 missing, while 364 people have been rescued. Material damage includes 151,995 homes damaged, 30,803 destroyed and 302 collapsed buildings.
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This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
