Mocoa landslide: the court rejects force majeure and holds the Nation, Putumayo and the town liable

On the night of March 31 to April 1, 2017, a torrential flood swept through several neighborhoods of Mocoa (Putumayo) and left hundreds dead.

The victims sued, as a group, the National Disaster Risk Management Unit, Corpoamazonía, the department of Putumayo and the town of Mocoa.

What the court decided

In a ruling of June 2025, made public on July 2, the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca:

• Held all four authorities liable.
• Found the disaster was technically foreseeable: there had been warnings since 1989 and 2003, and still no early-warning systems or prevention measures were put in place.
• Ordered payment of 63,148 monthly minimum wages in total, plus public apologies and psychosocial care, and ordered the ruling published to reach victims who hadn't sued.

It is a first-instance decision: it can be appealed to the Council of State. In 2022 the same court had already held those authorities liable in another case, with 86 claimants.

Why it matters

A natural disaster is not automatically force majeure. If the risk was known and the authorities didn't act, the State is liable for the harm.

What it means if something similar happened to you

In tragedies caused by landslides, floods or buildings in risk areas, it helps to gather whatever shows the danger was already known: studies, warnings, community complaints and earlier news reports. The deadline to sue the State for direct compensation is generally two years.

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Sources

• Infobae (2 de julio de 2025)
• MiPutumayo Noticias (2 de julio de 2025)
• Infobae (fallo de 2022) (15 de julio de 2022)

This is a summary of public news written by García & Asociados Abogados for informational purposes. Every case depends on its own facts and evidence: it doesn’t mean another case will have the same outcome.

Photo: Main square of Mocoa, Putumayo — Juan Camilo Macías, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.