Speech
Abelardo de la Espriella  ·  2026-09-10 03:21

Declaración a medios del Presidente Abelardo De La Espriella al finalizar el Consejo de Ministros

Today we have taken a fundamental step to move from immediate emergency response to the recovery and reconstruction of our country. Today we signed 11 new decrees within the framework of the state of emergency with concrete measures to mobilize resources, give financial capacity to the regions, guarantee the provision of public services, accelerate the reconstruction of infrastructure and ensure that our children and young people can continue studying. I want to explain the most important decisions to Colombians. First, we created the Patria Milagro Fund, a special tool to channel and manage resources intended to address the emergency and advance the recovery and reconstruction of the affected territories. We need execution capacity, resources, and speed. This fund will be one of the instruments, perhaps the most important one, to achieve this. Secondly, we adopted 17 financial, administrative and institutional measures aimed at territorial entities with a very specific objective: to give temporary financial liquidity to departments and municipalities so that they can face the emergency they are suffering. Mayors and governors are on the front line of response. We cannot demand results from local leaders if we do not give them the tools to act accordingly. That's why we also made a third decision. We have enabled, for a single time, an extraordinary period to access Fompet resources. the National Pension Fund of the territorial entities and we exceptionally authorize its use to address the effects of the emergency. These are resources that can be converted into response capacity in the territories under the conditions established in the emergency decree and without losing sight of fiscal responsibility. Fourth, we are taking steps to ensure the continuity of public energy service in the affected areas. We temporarily authorize the allocation of resources from Fondes to help guarantee the provision of service where the infrastructure or operation has been affected as a result of the earthquake. Reconstruction cannot move forward with communities in darkness. Energy is absolutely essential for homes, hospitals, commerce, communications, and overall economic recovery. Fifth, with these decrees we are also launching the special tax-for-works scheme for reconstruction. This will allow us to mobilize resources and especially the execution capacity of the private sector to address the damage caused by the earthquake. Here we need to combine capabilities. The state, the regions, and business leaders must work together to rebuild our country. We want the resources to quickly become roads, infrastructure, equipment, works, and schools standing. Once again, this will undoubtedly allow us to recover our territories. Sixth important decision taken within the framework of these decrees, which I have signed today as President of the Republic, as well as all the ministers. We enable cross-jurisdictional investments in simple terms so that everyone can understand them. This means that during the emergency and under the established conditions, a territorial entity may finance or co-finance investment projects that are executed outside its own jurisdiction. Why are we doing this? Many of you may wonder why an emergency of this magnitude does not recognize municipal or departmental boundaries. A project located in a municipality can be crucial in restoring mobility, services, or economic activity to an entire region. We need to rebuild always thinking as a country and not only within the administrative limits of each territory. Seventh decision. We adopted an exceptional and temporary regime for the treatment of reserved statistical information by DANE, with the purpose of strengthening the care, rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction of the affected territories. For reconstruction, and to be able to do it right, we need to know where the families are. What are their socioeconomic conditions? Where are the greatest needs? And how should we focus public resources in each particular case ? The information we will obtain will allow us to make better decisions, always within the guarantees and conditions provided for the use of that data. And I want to focus particularly on education. Our priority, the government's priority, is that no child or young person has to stop studying as a result of the earthquake. Therefore, within this package of decrees, we adopted special measures to guarantee the continuity of the educational service. When an educational institution has been affected, the development of academic activities may be temporarily authorized in spaces other than its official premises while the respective infrastructure is being recovered. We also adopted financial measures to ensure that educational institutions have the essential resources needed to continue operating, and we temporarily made the academic calendar of affected establishments more flexible, because we cannot expect an institution that lost classrooms or whose community was hit by the emergency to function under the same normal conditions. The message for families is very clear. The emergency may have affected schools, but we will not allow it to disrupt the future of our children and young people. These 11 decrees, dear Colombians, have the same purpose. To give the State extraordinary tools to respond to an extraordinary situation created by the earthquake. We are removing obstacles, mobilizing resources, and bringing decision-making power to the territories. Now comes the most important part: execution. And this is a government that delivers results, that gets things done, that executes. Every peso allocated must be converted into solutions for our people. Every extraordinary tool must translate into results, and every decision we make must reach the families who today expect the State, the government, to respond to them as is our duty. Reconstruction cannot remain just announcements or procedures. It has to be seen in the houses we rebuild with everyone's effort, in the schools we recover, in the services that can be restored, in the companies that reopen, and in the municipalities we put back on their feet. This emergency hit Colombia hard, but it is also showing us that we are capable of working together. I've said it many times already, we Colombians have been forged in the midst of adversity. This is a republic born of pain and vicissitudes. And this situation will not be too much for us this time. We are going to rebuild, we are going to recover our territories, and we are going to turn this tragedy into an opportunity to rebuild a better and stronger Colombia, as our children deserve, as we all deserve. That is the commitment of this government and that is the true construction of the Milagro homeland. I thank God for allowing us to help in such a difficult time. I thank God for being surrounded by a team of absolutely exceptional, patriotic, committed, disciplined, and responsible ministers. And I thank God for giving us hope, for giving us the strength and determination to fight the most important battle for our country in a supremely complex moment. And I want the country to know clearly that today more than ever I stand firm for the homeland. May God bless Colombia. Thank you all very much.