In the eye of the hurricane is the candidate for the Chamber for La Guajira, Juan Loreto Gómez Soto, after learning of alleged pressure from officials of the mayor of Uribia to invaders of a propertyto whom they would be promising land titles in exchange for votes.
The denunciations of the demands of the vote this March 13 in exchange for property deeds, also cover Senator Mauricio Trujillo, who aspires to repeat a seat, both represent the Conservative Party.
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They are the candidates that the team supports for the ‘Transformation of Uribia’, which brought the current president Bonifacio Henríquez to the mayor’s office.
Property was donated by the Ministry of
Defense to the municipality of Uribia
The complaints are related to the ‘Flor del Campo’ property, which until a few weeks ago was owned by the Ministry of Defense, but was ceded free of charge to the municipality through Resolution No. 0225 of January 25, 2022.
Said property is made up of some 366 hectares and according to what was indicated by the Municipal Planning Secretary, René Lindarte, It is inhabited by some 3,200 families: 14,000 people including older adults, adults, youth and children.
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The mayor’s office had made the request, through the official letters of February 23 and May 6, 2021, in order that the property be transferred to it, which since 1943 was declared vacant at the La Guajira Special Police Station and made available to the Army. , but it is no longer used and is not necessary for the development of its institutional mission.
Living conditions are deplorable there
The District’s purpose was to provide housing solutions for local and migrant families who have informally settled on the site for about eight years.
However, in the settlement the housing conditions are deplorable, most of them are built in mud and yotojoro, a material extracted from the cactus. It does not have public services since, due to lack of ownership, the municipality could not invest in the area. Of course, the area is full of posters of the two candidates.
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However, the municipality defends political propaganda in the midst of misery.
For the secretary, political advertising with posters is just normal, “we are in a campaign process where there are candidates making political proselytism in the country and then there must be people who are identifying with a candidate,” says the official.
He reproaches that they want to damage the work they have been doing with signs like these, so they will continue, “that is not what is going to stop us so that we can continue with that social work that we have outlined and that is going favor of the community. Our government has an expiration date and we cannot stop,” he said.
They denounce that individuals asked for
600 thousand pesos for deeds
Lindarte assures that the information they received was that they were being scammed, they were asking for 600 thousand pesos for the deeds, so the network of leaders was activated to keep people informed of how the process was going to be carried out.
“We received that complaint demanding money, not political proselytism,” said the Secretary of Planning.
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It clarifies that there is a process prior to the granting of the deeds, such as carrying out a soil study, a characterization process and promoting an urban development model, since eight neighborhoods would be created.
The candidate’s defense
The candidate for the House of Representative for La Guajira, Juan Loreto Gómez, who was on the run in Alta Guajira, was surprised by the complaint, since he had never visited the settlement, so he asked the competent authorities to do the relevant research.
Also, he invited citizens to denounce any irregular situation of any person or group offering gifts in exchange for votes since they do not agree with bad political practices.
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“Perhaps it is a story poorly told with particular political interests that generates this type of reaction and that I would also react in this way, but I want them to be clear that we do not do rigged practices,” said Gómez.
He also assured that he has more commitment to go to that community, “knowing that there are supporters there means that the proposal has echoed in the department, even in the popular sectors it has generated good acceptance,” said the candidate.
It should be noted that Juanlo aspires to occupy the seat currently held by his mother María Cristina ‘Tina’ Soto, who is being investigated by the investigation chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Soto, was called for investigation for her alleged participation in a complex network of electoral corruption that would have been forged for her arrival in Congress in the 2018 elections.
The congresswoman is criminally investigated to answer for the crimes that accuse the voter of corruption, conspiracy to commit a crime, falsehood in public and private documents and procedural fraud.
reactions
The candidate for the Chamber for the Liberal Party, Jarlen Garrido Weber, asked Gómez to clarify the situation, because it is a very delicate accusation, which is not good for democracy, nor for the department of La Guajira, which is going through a difficult situation.
“We have had experiences in the past with the removal of former governors and there is an investigation in the Supreme Court of representative María Cristina Soto for precisely the same crime and we want the department to have enough clarity so that we are not involved in a new traffic scandal or of buying or exchanging votes for privileges,” Garrido said.
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This is a story that was portrayed for the first time by Caracol Radio’s 10AM program, who toured the area and revealed audios, photos and videos.
Eliana Mejia Ospino
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