A fresh political firestorm has erupted in Colombia just one week after a catastrophic 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the country’s western region, leaving hundreds dead and thousands displaced. The disaster, which hit on August 10, marked the strongest seismic event Colombia has experienced in almost 50 years, and arrived just three days after newly inaugurated right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella took office. With nearly 300 confirmed fatalities and more than 27,000 homes reduced to rubble, the quake has already become an unexpected and grueling first test for the first-term president. In the hardest-hit urban centers of Cali and Pereira, survivors whose homes were destroyed have been forced to sleep out in the open on makeshift beds and thin mattresses, turning entire neighborhood streets into informal open-air refugee camps one week after the tremor. Search and rescue teams have now formally wound down operations to find trapped survivors, with hopes of pulling anyone alive from the rubble all but extinguished, and emergency response efforts have shifted entirely to addressing the growing humanitarian crisis unfolding across affected regions. The latest controversy to engulf the new administration centers on Housing Minister Jaime Andres Beltran, who is facing widespread public backlash and a formal no-confidence motion from left-wing opposition parties after photos and videos circulated over the weekend showing the minister relaxing on a Caribbean coast beach in Santa Marta alongside his family. In a statement posted to the social platform X on Monday, Beltran attempted to push back against growing criticism, arguing that the trip was not an official vacation but rather a brief chance to reconnect with his family after days apart, and claiming he returned to work on post-quake reconstruction immediately after the short break. The controversy over Beltran’s trip is not the first criticism the new president has faced over his administration’s response to the disaster. During a visit to an area near the earthquake’s epicenter Sunday, De la Espriella drew fierce condemnation after his team distributed branded footballs emblazoned with his campaign slogan “Sign for the homeland” from his armored vehicle. Detractors have accused the right-wing populist leader of exploiting the national tragedy to advance his political brand and dismissing the urgent, life-sustaining needs of displaced survivors. Supporters of the president have pushed back against the criticism, framing the gesture as a small attempt to bring moments of joy to children and families affected by the disaster. So far, De la Espriella has unveiled initial emergency measures including rent subsidies for families who lost their homes in the quake, and has called on his political ally, former U.S. President Donald Trump, to suspend existing tariffs on Colombian exports in a bid to soften the economic blow of the disaster for the country.