Billionaire heir Howard Graham Buffett rushed to Colombia this week to pledge millions rebuilding foreign schools — while American public schools back home continue their decades-long decay under progressive mismanagement.
After a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia's Chocó department on Aug. 10, killing at least 287 people and destroying more than 26,000 dwellings, Buffett joined Colombian pop star Shakira on a visit to the devastated region to announce school reconstruction funding. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation will help rebuild at least 10 schools in Chocó, including facilities in the capital Quibdó and surrounding rural areas.
"When she calls, I come," Buffett said during the visit, according to the New York Post.
Shakira's Barefoot Foundation, which has operated two schools in Chocó for 22 years, announced a $1.25 million contribution. Live Nation kicked in $500,000, the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund matched that amount, and the CAF Development Bank added $250,000. UPI reported that Shakira also appealed directly to the governments of Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom to support recovery — though she notably did not ask Washington.
Buffett's Colombia spending predates this earthquake. His foundation contributed $38 million to land mine removal initiatives in the country in 2017, according to Noticias Caracol. He has funded education, rural development, and conflict-affected community programs there for several years.
Chocó is one of Colombia's poorest regions. Most of its 600,000 inhabitants live in poverty, and the province — roughly the size of Switzerland — has few roads connecting it to the rest of the country. Over 265 educational sites were affected by the quake.
"What worries me the most is that schools are not rebuilt once this emergency is over," Shakira told journalists. "Every day that children don't go to school is a day they miss out on their future."
She described the situation as a "historic debt" owed to the department and said the emergency could provide an opportunity to move forward.
No one disputes the suffering in Chocó. The question is priority. American public schools — many in districts run by progressive administrators for decades — face crumbling infrastructure, collapsing test scores, and millions of students who can barely read. The American Society of Civil Engineers has repeatedly graded U.S. school infrastructure as failing. Yet the philanthropic class consistently finds more urgency abroad than in their own back yard.
The Post framed the visit as an emotional homecoming for Shakira; UPI framed it as coordinated public-private partnership. Neither outlet raised the obvious question: where is the Buffett money for American children?
Shakira is Colombian. Her loyalty to her homeland is understandable. Buffett is an American billionaire's son spending American-generated wealth overseas while American kids sit in decaying classrooms. That's a choice — and it tells you who the globalist class thinks comes last.
