Los Topos From Mexico Have Responded to Disasters Across Latin America for Decades but the Colombian Government Has Not Let Them In Yet

The Brigada de Rescate Topos Tlatelolco is one of the most respected volunteer rescue brigades in Latin America, with decades of experience responding to disasters across the region. The Mexican organization formally offered its technical and humanitarian support to Colombia following the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck on August 10th, and the answer it received was not a yes. The Colombian government has determined that its national rescue teams are currently sufficient to manage the emergency and is only evaluating potential support from the United States, Ecuador, Chile and Israel for now, leaving the Topos in a holding pattern while the death toll has climbed to 216 people and rescue workers continue operating around the clock in Pereira, Cali and Manizales.

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— Topos® México (@topos) August 12, 2026

The brigade confirmed it maintained direct communication with Silvia Vallen, Colombia’s national coordinator of Risk Management, to coordinate a potential response. The outcome of that communication was that the Topos must wait for a new Damage and Needs Assessment before any personnel or equipment can be deployed. The framework governing that decision comes from the UN’s INSARAG system, which establishes that the sovereignty of the affected country determines what international aid it accepts and under what conditions, a principle the Topos stated publicly that they respect and support.

The Commander Stranded in Venezuela With Tools He Cannot Put on a Plane

The complications facing the Topos are not limited to the waiting period in Mexico. The Topos USAR BREC group, led by commander Carlos Cienfuegos, was in Venezuela when the earthquake struck and has been attempting to secure the logistics needed to cross into Colombia. Cienfuegos, who has 54 years of international rescue experience, posted a video on social media requesting the donation of a large Toyota 4×4 truck to transport tools and generators that cannot be loaded onto a commercial aircraft. He explained that generators running on gasoline and certain heavy rescue tools are prohibited on commercial flights, making ground transport the only viable option for moving the full complement of equipment his team would need to be effective on the ground.

The bureaucratic obstacles between Venezuela and Colombia have complicated the situation considerably. Cienfuegos described the frustration of being asked to present documentation that treats emergency rescue like a formal professional application, pointing out that nobody arrives at a disaster site with a resume. His team remains ready to move the moment the authorization and logistics align, but the window for reaching survivors trapped under rubble narrows with every hour that passes.

What Rescue Looks Like on the Ground in Colombia Right Now

While international teams wait for authorization and logistics to clear, Colombian emergency workers and volunteers are operating with grúas, canine units and heavy machinery in the cities most affected by the earthquake. In the areas where machinery cannot reach, volunteers are forming human chains to remove debris by hand, working with gloves in conditions that one Cali volunteer described to AFP as heartbreaking because of the awareness that time is running out with every passing hour.

In another collapsed building in Cali, rescue teams reached a man and his infant grandson alive, though the child’s mother remained trapped at the time of the report. A Pereira volunteer described the experience of working through the disaster as something between a horror film and a profound demonstration of human solidarity, noting that everything happens in darkness but that the way people come together in those moments is something he had never witnessed before.

The Scale of What Colombia Is Navigating

Pereira is the second most affected city with 72 confirmed deaths, and the majority of its 480,000 residents are currently without electricity. Supermarkets are running low on water and food, and long lines have formed at blood donation centers as the need for transfusions continues. Pereira, Cali and Manizales have all imposed nighttime curfews to manage security in areas where buildings have collapsed and infrastructure is compromised. Six airports sustained damage, with two remaining closed to commercial flights. Multiple hospital facilities were damaged during the earthquake, forcing medical staff to treat patients on sidewalks outside. Public schools across the affected region remain closed.

President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office on August 7th just days before the earthquake struck, declared a national state of emergency and announced housing subsidies for displaced residents during a visit to Pereira. The United States pledged $15.5 million in emergency assistance. The earthquake has drawn inevitable comparisons to the 1999 earthquake that struck the same coffee-growing region and killed nearly 1,200 people, and the communities that rebuilt from that disaster are now facing the task of doing so again while the rest of Latin America watches and waits to help in whatever way Colombia will allow.