Previously, U.S. War Secretary Hegseth announced the possible implementation of ‘joint military operations’ in Colombia.

On Friday, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said he wants to implement a “Marshall Plan” to carry out reconstruction efforts in Choco, the department where the epicenter of the earthquake that struck Aug. 10 was located.

RELATED:

Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 273 as Controversy Over Aid Breaks Out

“I want to propose a special plan, a ‘Marshall Plan’ for Choco. Choco has been abandoned to its fate by the centralism of power in Bogota, as if it did not exist,” he said.

“In the ‘miracle homeland,’ I want to give this department, home to extraordinary people, the place it deserves. Amid all this tragedy, there is a great opportunity for Choco.”

“We have to rebuild all these territories, which have been forgotten and are now devastated by nature. There is a great deal of work ahead,” De la Espriella told reporters upon his arrival in Quibdo, the regional capital.

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake was centered in San Jose del Palmar, a town in Choco. So far, the natural disaster has left 285 people dead and 379 missing across Colombia.

Colombia has authorized joint U.S. military operations against cartels just days after its new president took office.

Pete Hegseth announced Colombia will also become the 19th member of the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition.

He said the operations are intended to “destroy…

— NewsForce (@Newsforce) August 13, 2026

De la Espriella’s Marshall Plan Would Take Place in a Violent Territory

Located on the Pacific coast, the department of Choco is predominantly home to Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities and is geographically remote, with limited access to infrastructure, health care, education, sanitation, and employment opportunities.

The World Bank has identified Choco as one of Colombia’s poorest departments and has linked its persistent poverty to gaps in infrastructure and public services, particularly in rural areas.

Poverty has been compounded by decades of armed conflict and the displacement of communities from their homes and traditional livelihoods.

Currently, several illegal armed groups compete for territorial control in Choco. They frequently impose restrictions on movement; disrupt fishing, farming, and other economic activities; and expose civilians to threats, killings, forced recruitment and displacement.

In this context, De la Espriella’s proposal to organize the reconstruction of Choco through something resembling a “Marshall Plan” could take the internal war to levels never seen before, in which the far-right president’s allies, the U.S. and Israel, could become involved.

On Aug. 12, U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that De la Espriella authorized “joint military operations” with the United States to combat “narcoterrorism” in Colombia.

“Through the newly inaugurated president, as our president likes to say, President El Tigre, 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 said in Panama City.

The U.S. Secretary also announced that Colombia was joining the Coalition Against Cartels of the Americas, an alliance promoted by Washington to supposedly combat drug trafficking in Latin America.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.