Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump to temporarily suspend high tariffs on Colombian goods to help the country recover from a powerful earthquake that claimed the lives of at least 289 people. Associated Press reports this, UNN writes.
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De la Espriella took office in early August, just days before the magnitude 7.4 earthquake. Trump supported him during the presidential campaign, and Colombia’s new leader sought to emphasize close relations with Washington.
On Saturday evening, de la Espriella said he had spoken with Trump and thanked him for U.S. assistance following the disaster. He also asked the American president to consider temporarily lifting the tariffs to support Colombian businesses.
The earthquake destroyed thousands of homes
I asked him (Trump — ed.) to consider temporarily suspending the high tariffs affecting Colombian goods in order to provide assistance to our businesspeople, who are going through very difficult times because of the consequences of the earthquake
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to the Colombian president’s request. At the same time, the U.S. State Department announced $26.5 million in aid for Colombia, including food, shelter and medical supplies.
The earthquake, which occurred on Monday, severely damaged the western regions of the country, including Pereira, Cali and Quibdó. Populated areas along the Pacific coast were the hardest hit. The president of Colombia declared a disaster.
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According to the government, 3,937 people were injured in the earthquake, 14,705 homes were destroyed and another 81,536 were damaged. Authorities also reported 143 people missing, while civilian databases record a significantly higher number of missing people.
In Cali, rescuers continued searching for more than 70 people who were missing. The city’s mayor, Alejandro Eder, said that even after more than 120 hours of search operations, rescuers had not lost hope of finding people alive.
Miracles happen. We are working in places where we know there are still victims; we are working in the hope of rescuing people alive
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