For more than a month, a team of volunteer rescuers from Mexico’s Topos Azteca has been responding to consecutive natural disasters in Latin America, shifting from recovery operations in Venezuela to emergency rescue efforts in Colombia.

Topos Azteca, a search-and-rescue group with origins dating back to the devastating 1985 Mexico City earthquake, initially spent 40 days in La Guaira, Venezuela, where back-to-back earthquakes caused widespread destruction. Their work there transitioned from extracting survivors to recovering bodies as the death toll mounted. Shortly after a powerful earthquake struck Colombia on August 10, the team flew overnight to Cali, the country’s third-largest city, arriving by August 12 to assist in locating survivors under collapsed buildings amid ongoing rescue efforts.

Alex Rodriguez, a 36-year-old volunteer who had been working in Venezuela, described the shift in mission: “By the time we were at that point in La Guaira, it was strictly body recoveries. And right now, we’re here at the site, fighting and racing against time to find signs of life.” The Colombian government has reported that the quake in the western part of the country has resulted in more than 270 fatalities.

Topos Azteca, known for their distinctive orange uniforms, is widely recognised across Latin America and beyond for their disaster response work. The organisation was founded by 80-year-old Hector Mendez, who established the group in the aftermath of the 1985 earthquake that killed thousands in Mexico City. After initially searching for his brother during that disaster, Mendez stayed to help rescue survivors from collapsed buildings, leading to his lifelong commitment to emergency response.

Since then, Topos Azteca has expanded their operations internationally, with affiliated brigades in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil, Panama, and Venezuela. The group is made up of volunteers from diverse backgrounds—some professional firefighters and paramedics, others with no formal training in rescue work and day jobs unrelated to disaster response. Many members pay their own expenses to join deployments, emphasising the volunteers’ dedication.

Miguel Garcia, 25, who joined through familial ties and now runs a traditional Chinese medicine business, described the volunteers as a fraternity ranging from bus drivers to street vendors. Another member, Juanita Duenez, a firefighter with two decades’ experience, cited the group’s philosophy of transcending race, nationality, gender, religion, and politics in favour of the shared obligation to aid those in need.

Training for Topos Azteca members is rigorous, consisting of intensive three-day courses covering essential rescue techniques, structural stabilisation, and simulated disaster scenarios. Prospective international responders are generally required to participate in domestic disaster missions first to gain practical experience.

Rodriguez himself came to Topos Azteca through personal tragedy. His grandmother’s home collapsed during the Venezuelan earthquakes, but she survived as she was not inside. He initially arrived in La Guaira searching for her and then stayed to assist rescuers looking for trapped children, applying skills from his background as a rock climber and circus aerialist to manoeuvre heavy debris. He quickly learned to operate technical equipment such as thermal cameras and sound detectors.

Rodriguez characterised his experience with the group as one defined by emotional strength and camaraderie: “The Topos saw my skills, my endurance, my emotional control. And I felt a connection with them. The fraternal family bond was true brotherhood.”

As they work in Colombia, Topos Azteca members also aim to empower local communities. After each international deployment, they seek out local volunteers who show potential and offer training to build local disaster preparedness and resilience.

Garcia summed up the shared motivation: “That uncertainty of knowing whether you’ll make it out of a collapsed structure or not creates a brotherly and sisterly bond among the people we work with in our squad. We have a calling to serve.”