In the early hours of Thursday, July 25, President Gustavo Petro accused the media of manipulating reports related to the investigations of Olmedo López and Sneyder Pinilla. These two individuals, former director and deputy director, respectively, of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (Ungrd), are under scrutiny for alleged corruption while in office.
Petro asserted that a recent report misrepresented the facts regarding statements made by López and Pinilla about bribery involving the President of Congress. He emphasized that there was a "malicious inaccuracy" in the report, which suggested that the alleged bribes were intended to facilitate the government’s social reforms. He stated this in a tweet at 1:44 a.m., indicating that the justice system needs to investigate these claims further.
The President’s comments were prompted by a report from the television program Noticias Caracol. This report allegedly traced the geographical route through which 4 billion pesos (around 1 million USD) in bribes were funneled to Iván Name and Andrés Calle, former presidents of the Senate and Congress. The bribes were purportedly intended to expedite the approval of social reforms proposed by the National Government.
According to the investigation, Pinilla admitted to coordinating the delivery of 3 billion pesos to Name and 1 billion to Calle. The operation took place over three days, with Pinilla reportedly receiving assistance from former regional advisor Sandra Ortiz. They arranged meetings in a suite at a well-known Bogotá hotel to manage the distribution of the funds.
President Petro questioned the narrative suggesting that misappropriated funds were directed toward facilitating social reforms. He pointed out that Name was a known opponent of his government, stating, "the government had Name as its greatest opponent, someone who managed to hold the pension reform in his desk for 13 months.” This reform was the only major change the government managed to push through Congress, which was eventually passed without the concurrence of Name.
Petro labeled the former directorial head of Congress as "petty," claiming that he obstructed initiatives aimed at helping impoverished senior citizens simply for ideological reasons. The President vividly criticized Name’s actions, stating: "He preferred that millions of elderly citizens go without a pension bonus just to oppose us."
The scandal surrounding the Ungrd erupted earlier this year when journalist Paula Bolívar from La W Radio exposed alleged irregularities in contracts for water trucks intended to supply drinking water to underserved communities in La Guajira. As López and Pinilla sought to unveil the corruption within the agency in exchange for leniency from the Attorney General’s office, it has become apparent that this corruption had reached higher levels within both the executive and legislative branches of government.
Image and News Source: https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2024/07/25/escandalo-en-la-ungrd-petro-senala-inexactitud-malintencionada-en-informe-periodistico/
