Sole earthquake survivor asks Petro to respect family's grief, remove political post

Ana María Saavedra Caicedo, 23, the only survivor from her immediate family after a devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on August 10, has publicly asked former President Gustavo Petro to retract a social media post. Petro had attended the funeral mass for Saavedra's parents and two sisters, Isabella and Sofía, who perished in the disaster.

Saavedra requested that Petro respect her family's grief and remove his message, stating that the religious ceremony should not be associated with political issues. Petro's post, shared on August 21 across X and Instagram, described the Saavedra family as "progressive" and mentioned his attendance at the mass in Cali, reportedly at the invitation of Saavedra's uncle.

In his now-deleted message, Petro also commented on the public's response to the earthquake, praising the solidarity shown by young people from Cali's low-income neighborhoods and Mexican rescue workers. He highlighted their efforts in searching through rubble, often recovering bodies, and mentioned an attempt to reach a girl who could still communicate via phone from a collapsed building.

Saavedra's response came on August 22, asserting that her family does not wish to be linked with any political party. Petro's initial post had also touched upon the rescue operations, referring to the youth and rescuers as "heroes" for their work in penetrating collapsed structures.

“

Respete