“As far as we can, we must move forward by removing obstacles, with courage, without fear. As long as you have the people you don't have to fear anything. To defeat it more, to defeat as much as possible from the national government. And you have to know for sure, stop the blow they are cooking. This blow has phases. One way to do it the Colombian way is not with war tanks on the presidential palace. It is with the prudery of the manzanillos. It is saying that we exceeded the electoral limits, look at you. Those who filled their pockets with mafia money from Mr. “Ñeñe” and others like that. Those who allowed themselves to be financed by foreign multinationals, when the Constitution of Colombia prohibits foreign money from financing campaigns. Those who buy votes with money from state corruption, as happened with Odebrecht. “These same people now want to say that the popular movement, the Historical Pact and the candidate Petro exceeded the limits because the teachers' union, Fecode, contributed money to the Colombia Humana political party.”
This was part of President Gustavo Petro's speech in the Plaza de Bolívar, in Bogotá, on May 1, 2024. “There is a big difference between that in a campaign, that of Duque, between the money from drug trafficking, from Mr. “Ñeñe “Hernández, murdered later, or that in another campaign the money of the Spanish gentleman, owner of Sanitas, is prohibited by the Constitution and the law, for a group of organized workers to hand over the little they have so that a left-wing party can take power in Colombia,” he added.
Sneyder Pinilla, former deputy director of the UNGRD, confessed in an interview that his then boss, Olmedo López, ordered him to deliver 3,000 million pesos to the president of the Senate, Iván Name, and 1,000 million pesos to the president of the House of Representatives, Andrés Calle . Pinilla indicated that everything was part of a plan by the Petro Government to carry out the reforms. Likewise, he assured that he personally delivered the money. This media outlet contacted him at 2 a.m. on Thursday, while he was sheltering in a secret place, afraid of being murdered, to prevent him from telling the truth to justice and the country.
Everything happened, according to Pinilla's story, between September and October, when he finally delivered the millionaire sums of money in cash and in suitcases. It was prepared after several meetings between Olmedo López and the Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, and the advisor for the regions, Sandra Ortiz.
Watch the 'Vicky en SEMANA' program explaining the details of this scandal:
Faced with the scandal, the Presidency of Colombia issued the following statement:
The Presidency of the Republic reiterates zero tolerance for acts of corruption.
In line with the conviction that no one can be above the law, the Government of Gustavo Petro announced a series of measures that aim to identify, document and confront any indication of corruption to subsequently facilitate the independent and effective action of the Attorney General's Office.
The National Government has as one of its priorities to combat corruption in all its forms. For this reason, President Gustavo Petro ordered the formation of a Technical Coordination Board specifically in charge of articulating actions aimed at document cases of misuse of public resources. This high-level team will be chaired by a specialized unit and will have the participation of the Presidency of the Republic, the Transparency Secretariat, the National Judicial Defense Agency and a group of external auditors specialized in the matter.
The Technical Roundtable will establish close collaboration with the United States embassy in Colombia to strengthen international cooperation in the exchange of information. This alliance will focus especially on the identification of international capital derived from acts of corruption.
The Government has also requested the collaboration of other control bodies. The Office of the Attorney General of the Nation and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic will accompany the initiative, to guarantee independence and competence in the supervision and control of government actions. Furthermore, the National Judicial Defense Agency will play a fundamental role within its jurisdiction, providing all the collaboration required by the Attorney General's Office.
The Technical Board will also ensure that the National Government adopts a scheme of good corporate integrity practices. Compliance with the highest ethical standards and full collaboration with the competent authorities will be guaranteed to ensure transparency and accountability in all spheres of government. The objective is none other than to ensure honest and genuine internal verification procedures, with clear and categorical responses to corruption.
This joint effort represents a significant step to combat acts of corruption in Colombia. President Gustavo Petro reaffirms his commitment to continue working tirelessly to strengthen transparency and integrity in public management, for the well-being and progress of Colombia.
