De la Espriella’s First Month as Colombia’s President: The Numbers
President Abelardo de la Espriella marks his first month in office on September 7, a period defined less by his government’s initial agenda than by four events that forced the executive branch to focus its efforts on the emergency, security and public finances.
The August 10 earthquake, wildfires in Tolima, the offensive against criminal organizations, and the presentation of the General Budget of the Nation for 2027 ultimately defined the first 30 days of the new administration.
The administration inherited a seismic emergency that left hundreds dead and thousands affected, a wildfire season that hit the agricultural sector, and a fiscal scenario that led the government to present the largest national budget in the country’s history.
At the same time, De la Espriella began fulfilling his promise to step up the military offensive against illegal armed groups, in a move that clearly signaled the end of the previous government’s Total Peace policy.
De la Espriella’s first month as Colombia’s president: the numbers
The magnitude 7.4 earthquake recorded on August 10, just days after the presidential inauguration, became the new administration’s main challenge. The latest figures cited by the National Planning Department put the number of people affected at 466,606, with 293,743 families affected, 201,010 homes damaged and 36,336 destroyed.
The tragedy also left 709 buildings collapsed, 5,889 damaged, 4,519 people injured, 331 dead and 122 missing. In total, 498 municipalities across 16 departments were affected. The cost of reconstruction is estimated at nearly 40 trillion pesos and could take five or six years.
In response to the emergency, the government managed to raise more than 2 trillion pesos in donations from the private sector, multilateral organizations and countries that offered assistance to Colombia. The scale of the damage has made reconstruction one of the administration’s main tasks for the coming years.
The seismic emergency was compounded by wildfires, particularly in Tolima, in the south of the country. As of the beginning of this month, the fires had affected more than 50,000 hectares, an area equivalent to nearly 30% of Bogotá.
The situation also had a significant economic impact: as of September 1, 332 incidents had been recorded, leaving 28,000 farmers affected and resulting in the loss of 14,340 hectares of crops. In addition, 163,546 animals were at risk due to a lack of food, while 278,620 tons of pasture were affected.
Losses in the agricultural sector were estimated at around 134 billion pesos (approximately US$42 million). As of the weekend, five fires were still active in municipalities across Tolima, keeping the environmental emergency among the problems that have accompanied the government during its first month.
New security policy and a record budget
The security policy — which had been announced in advance — also began to show results during the first weeks. The government reported that more than 40 members of criminal organizations had been killed and nearly 800 arrested.
Among the most notable operations was the strike against FARC dissident groups, particularly the Carolina Ramirez structure in the department of Guaviare. The government’s strategy, however, faces the challenge posed by the presence of minors among those killed in the airstrikes, which have been called into question by the courts.
Alias Nain, identified as the top leader of the Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra — criminal group also known as Los Pachenca — in the Caribbean region, was also killed.
The offensive represents one of the main shifts from the peace policy pursued by the previous administration — which was brought to an end through a carefully staged move — and reflects De la Espriella’s decision to prioritize the use of military and police force against armed organizations.
On the economic front, one of the central events of the first month was the presentation of the 2027 budget, worth 634.9 trillion pesos (approximately US$200 billion), the largest amount recorded to date and substantially higher than the budget presented under President Petro’s administration.
The government explained that part of the increase was due to obligations that, according to its assessment, had not been fully incorporated into the previous administration’s accounts.
Nevertheless, the current proposal has generated both opposition and anticipation, including among sectors close to the government, which had promised a policy of fiscal austerity and will now have to explain how it intends to reconcile that pledge with this increased budget.
That is how De la Espriella’s first month ends: with a multibillion-dollar reconstruction effort ahead, an environmental emergency that remains active and threatens to continue during the most acute phase of El Niño, a security offensive underway, and public finances that will force the government to prove whether its bet on higher spending can be sustained without deepening fiscal imbalances.
