Colombia Housing Minister Faces No-Confidence Vote Over Vacation Photos

Colombia's Housing Minister Jaime Andres Beltran faces intense criticism and a potential motion of no-confidence from left-wing opposition after photos emerged of him with his family in Santa Marta. The controversy follows a 7.4-magnitude earthquake on August 10 that killed nearly 300 people and destroyed approximately 27,000 homes in western Colombia.

Beltran denied he was on holiday, stating he was "sharing a few hours with my wife and children, whom I had not seen for days" before returning to reconstruction work. He maintained, "I was not on holiday."

President Abelardo de la Espriella has also faced backlash for distributing footballs branded with his campaign slogan to disaster survivors. While De la Espriella has requested that U.S. President Donald Trump suspend tariffs on Colombian goods to support the economy and has announced rent subsidies for victims, critics accuse the president of trivializing the disaster for political promotion.