BOGOTA.- Two of the magistrates investigating the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Colombia the alleged illegal financing of the Presidential campaign of the current Colombian President Gustavo Petro filed a presentation with the organization to debate whether they present charges against the head of state.
Magistrates Álvaro Prada and Benjamín Ortiz presented an extensive document that includes several months of investigation after which, in their opinion, they conclude that there are sufficient arguments to determine that the ruling coalition Historical Pact violated campaign salary caps permitted by law.
The CNE found inconsistencies in the information on the planes in which Petro and his close circle were transported to several cities in the country throughout 2022. Likewise, they seek to investigate the payment to more than 60,000 people who served as electoral witnesses for the Pact. Historical.
The CNE magistrates must vote on whether they decide file charges against President Petro. If so, a formal investigation will begin into the possible crime of illegal financing of the electoral campaign.
Statements by Gustavo Petro
Shortly after learning of this decision, President Petro denounced that “the soft coup has begun”, accusations that he has been repeating in recent months to denounce the decisions of bodies outside the Executive, according to him, to “burden his government.”
“We are facing an arbitrariness: An administrative body brings charges against the President of the Republic. It is an open constitutional rupture. It is responded to with the strength of the people,” Petro said on his official profile on the social network X, given the results of the investigation. of the electoral body.
The president called “for an immediate meeting” with all the forces of the Historical Pact, the coalition with which he ran for the Colombian presidential elections in May 2022 with the help of Francia Márquez, his now vice president.
“I invite all the instances of the Historical Pact to an immediate meeting and the social forces of the country to prepare against the attempt to disrespect the popular vote. Democracy enters into emergency,” added the Colombian president, in an attempt to stop the formulation of charges and avoid accountability.
Petro called on “progressive Colombians abroad” to launch “campaigns in the world” to defend their government and denounce “the coup d’état in Colombia”, using the same rhetoric as the dictatorial regimes of Cuba. , Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The Colombian media Semana indicated that it had access to the magistrates’ document, which contains more than 100 pages with statements, accounting records, accounts and certificates that support the investigation.
Semana cited a “high fidelity source” according to which the bulk of the evidence against Petro consists of the funds that the Colombian Federation of Educators (Fecode) contributed to his campaign and the 35,000 electoral witnesses who were paid on the day of the elections.
These income and payments were not reported and violated the limits established by law.
Source: With information from AFP / Semana.com
