As Colombia struggles to dig out from a catastrophic earthquake, its new president Abelardo de la Espriella is urging US President Donald Trump to ease the economic pressure of newly raised American tariffs on Colombian goods.
US tariffs on Colombian products rose from 10% to 12.5% in late July, with a few exceptions including coffee and oil.
“I asked him to consider to temporarily suspend the high tariffs that are affecting Colombian products, in order to give some relief to our business owners, who are facing very difficult times due to the effects of the earthquake,” Mr De la Espriella said on X.
The increased tariffs went into effect on 24 July, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out by Trump earlier this year.
Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella
Mr De la Espriella said he spoke for about 10 minutes with Mr Trump, who offered condolences following Monday’s 7.4-magnitude quake.
“The conversation was very friendly and cordial,” the Colombian leader said.
“I told him that we have a huge challenge ahead: rebuilding Colombia amid the extremely difficult and apocalyptic economic situation that I inherited.”
The tremor devastated the western Colombian cities of Cali and Pereira, leaving nearly 300 people dead and destroying almost 13,000 homes.
The tremor destroying almost 13,000 homes
Mr Trump endorsed the right-wing Mr De la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer-turned-politician, during his run for the presidency.
Since taking office, Mr De la Espriella – who succeeded the leftist Gustavo Petro – has aligned Colombia with the so-called “Shield of the Americas”, an anti-cartel alliance led by Mr Trump and made up of pro-US governments across Latin America, including Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador.
Member states exchange information and coordinate judicial and security forces to address transnational criminal activity.
Mr De la Espriella plans to forge a military alliance with the United States and Israel to help bolster his war on guerrillas.
Meanwhile, the family of a woman rescued after being trapped for nearly 37 hours under rubble said she has died from her injuries.
Daniela Largo, 32, was pulled from the debris on Tuesday in the city of Pereira to cheers and applause, quickly becoming a national symbol of hope. Ms Largo, who died on Friday, leaves behind a 12-year-old son.
