Word: betancur
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...people were left homeless by the volcano. Thousands of acres of prime agricultural land were destroyed. The threat of disease had to be curbed, along with a wave of looting and banditry. And there was the political fallout, with many charging that the government of President Belisario Betancur Cuartas had reacted too slowly when the crisis struck...
...million for such items as blankets, tents, generators and disaster relief teams. The Colombian government allocated $5 million to repair washed-out roads and bridges that had been in the path of the mudslides. An additional $2.5 million was earmarked to fix fractured oil pipelines. On Wednesday, President Betancur announced that the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank had awarded Colombia loans of $1.2 billion for reconstruction...
...international community was quick to respond to Colombia's agony. As President Reagan sent Betancur a message expressing his sympathy, the U.S. dispatched a dozen CH-47 Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters from Panama to take part in rescue operations. Public and private U.S. disaster relief swelled toward $1 million. In Geneva, the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported that twelve countries had contributed $1,250,000 worth of tents, generators, food, blankets and other essentials...
...news of the cataclysm spread, Colombia was stunned. President Betancur declared the 77 sq. mi. around the volcano a disaster zone. In Bogotá, long lines of blood donors formed outside the local Red Cross building; more than 10,000 pints were collected in less than 24 hours. Residents of the capital streamed to two major collection spots in the city bearing food, blankets, medicine and clothing. By Thursday morning a caravan of 300 trucks carrying thousands of tons of relief material was headed for Tolima department, a five-hour drive over narrow mountain roads...
...week progressed, fears of a second disaster sent occasional flashes of panic through the shell-shocked rescue camps. When President Betancur helicoptered into Mariquita for a second visit to the devastated zone, he encountered just such a scene. Said a local witness: "People were crying desperately, seeking out refuge in places that were more secure, while a vehicle with a loudspeaker rolled through the streets urging them to evacuate in order to avoid another Armero." Betancur struggled to restore calm. "Please, please, no more unfounded rumors," he exhorted. "We cannot be overcome by panic...