Colombian court gives first lady 48 hours to report on donations for earthquake victims

Court orders first lady's foundation to disclose its reporting

A judge gave the wife of Colombia's president, Ana Lucía Pineda, 48 hours to publish a detailed, item-by-item accounting of all private donations received by her foundation to help victims of the devastating August 10 earthquake. The ruling was issued on Thursday, Anadolu reports. The Colombia Luz y Sonrisas foundation must submit a report that 'clearly, precisely and consistently' describes the allocation of all funds it 'received, administered, directed or distributed'.

Trigger: a senator's lawsuit and the foundation's incomplete answers

The court ruling followed a lawsuit by opposition senator Alejandro Ocampo, who challenged the foundation's reporting after it failed to fully answer 20 detailed questions about the identities of donors, administrative expenses and oversight mechanisms. 'When the government asks citizens to donate money to a private foundation, those funds are subject to public scrutiny. Now we will find out where the money is,' Ocampo said after the court's decision.

Scale of the disaster and criticism of the pace of recovery

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake killed more than 330 people, destroyed over 30,000 homes and affected hundreds of thousands of residents; damage in the west of the country is estimated at $9.5 billion. The opposition criticizes the slow pace of recovery: it says that nearly three months on, critical aid has still not reached affected communities, and it also points to a discrepancy between President de la Espriella's public statements about more than $200 million in pledged commitments and the actual delivery of aid.

What has already been disclosed and Pineda's position

In an interim report on operations through mid-October, the foundation reported more than $17 million in private donations and aid to 48,000 people, but the document was criticized for lacking itemized expenditure records on destroyed housing, schools and hospitals. In a recent interview, Pineda explained the delays by saying that the funds raised were deliberately not distributed immediately: they are being reserved for a second phase of structural reconstruction because, in her words, the initial 'humanitarian aid was sufficient'. She added that the initiative will focus on building permanent housing for families who lost everything. Public discontent intensified on October 31, when the first lady came to a municipality in the department of Caldas for the unveiling of plaques for public works but brought no housing or emergency supplies. With the 48-hour ultimatum now activated, pressure on the administration is growing.