Government Promises Rent Subsidies as Cali Mayor Pegs Reconstruction at $3.2 Billion Over Three Years

A week after the magnitude-7.4 earthquake, Colombia's government promised rent subsidies and temporary housing support for families left homeless, alongside plans to formalize an economic emergency decree. In hard-hit Cali, 46 buildings had collapsed and 533 more were ordered evacuated, with rescue operations continuing at seven sites. Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder estimated the city's reconstruction alone would cost approximately $3.2 billion over three years, with roughly 40% earmarked for humanitarian assistance and the remainder for infrastructure repair and seismic retrofitting. Nationally, the quake had killed at least 287 people, left 194 missing, destroyed about 26,000 homes, and damaged 127,000 more.