In the midst of the wave of contracts and complaints about appointments in the last stretch of the Petro government, The National Protection Unit (UNP) has become one of the most questioned entities.
In fact, the government of President Abelardo de la Espriella He has already requested that several million-dollar contracts be stopped in that entity, which will be in charge of the security of the new President of the Republic and his officials. As well as congressmen and social leaders under threats.
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Guardianship and brake
This is the statement from Defenders of the Homeland regarding hiring at the UNP. Photo:Private file
Just 4 days ago, the De La Espriella government asked the attorney general, Gregorio Eljach, to intervene urgently and indispensable in several of the processes that are being carried out.
And sources from the junction told EL TIEMPO that the most worrying is related to the hiring of bodyguards for more than 78 billion pesos. According to them, the awarding of this tender is scheduled before the change of government, which would prevent the incoming administration from participating in the review of profiles, experience, suitability and conditions of those who will be in charge of protecting the new head of state.
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However, this newspaper established that it is not the only process that is being investigated.
EL TIEMPO learned for the first time of a guardianship in which one of the contractors operating the entity’s protection program denounces that The UNP substantially modified the selection process that initially contemplated the contracting of ten operational areas of the protection program.
According to the guardianship, at the time of the official opening of the process, The entity decided to limit the call only to zones 1 and 2, leaving out zones 3 to 10 without publishing technical studies. financial or legal reasons that justified that decision.
The complainant is the Starcoop cooperative, which is part of the Unión Temporal Andinos 040 and has provided escort service in Zone 1 since December 2023.
According to the firm, the modification changed the rules of the contracting process and It put at risk the continuity of a contract that, according to what it states, had been carried out under conditions similar to those in other areas of the country.
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Irremediable damage
UNP escorts. Photo:UNP
In the document, the cooperative states that the entity ignored the principle of equality by giving different treatment to areas that, In their opinion, they had the same contractual conditions and the same legal possibility of being extended.
He also maintains that The resolution by which the process was opened lacks sufficient motivation and that the UNP did not publish the documents that supported the change in the scope of the call.despite it being public information.
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The guardianship also warns that the continuity of the process could generate irreparable harm, since the schedule It foresees a short-term contract and, according to the plaintiff, the times would not allow the contentious-administrative jurisdiction to resolve a possible lawsuit in substance. before the contract is awarded. For this reason, it requests as a provisional measure the suspension of the process while a judge studies the case.
The brief also argues that the UNP’s decision would not only have economic effects on the contractor, but could affect the job stability of its associates and the continuity of the protection service that the entity provides to people with extraordinary or extreme levels of risk. And they add that the absence of an official explanation makes it impossible to know if the modification responded to real needs of the service or to administrative decisions without sufficient planning.
Boats and engines
One of the UNP boats. Photo:Private file
Parallel to that guardianship, EL TIEMPO learned of another document that talks about irregularities and cost overruns in the purchase of boats and engines by the entity.
This is a contract awarded by the UNP in 2024 for the acquisition of boats and motors for communities with collective protection measures. The document points out alleged cost overruns, possible deficiencies in the market study and contractual relationships of the companies that made up the temporary joint venture with the entity.
According to the alert, one of the companies that ended up obtaining the contract had previously participated in the preparation of one of the quotes used to set the reference prices of the process.
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And the issue has just become relevant because another of the processes that the De La Espriella government asks to stop has the same objective of purchasing boats and motors.
Indeed, This is the process SC-UNP-050-2026 with which the acquisition of elements is sought to be implemented in ancestral territory by the UNP as measures with a differential approach recommended by the Committee for Risk Assessment and Recommendation of Measures (Cerrem) and the security and protection technical table.
Although the amount of this contract has not yet appeared, according to schedules it appears in the offer submission phase.
EL TIEMPO had access to documents of the process where it is ensured that Boats and outboard motors will be acquired to implement collective protection measures in indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant communities located mainly in coastal areas of the Colombian Pacificthe Amazon and other regions where river transport is essential.
In addition, it is ensured that deliveries will be made in departments such as Chocó, Nariño, Cauca, Putumayo, Valle del Cauca, Antioquia, Meta, Vichada, Santander and Caquetá. It is also specified that they must be canoe-type boats of 12, 13 and 15 meters and 26-foot fiberglass boats.
One of the points that is requested to be verified is whether the companies in the 2024 contract are also participating in this new tender.
The response of the UNP
Augusto Rodríguez, director of the UNP. Photo:UNP
EL TIEMPO contacted Augusto Rodríguez, director of the UNP, to ask him about the alerts regarding the processes and He began by ensuring that support from the Attorney General’s Office has always been requested and that the contracting has been transparent.
Regarding the reduction in hiring in the areas reported in the guardianship, Rodríguez stated that it is due to budgetary issues: “Last year we made a budget request of close to 4 billion pesos for the period 2026, but only 2.7 billion pesos have been received from the Treasury. With that budget and we have had to pay bills and make contracts in periods where protection requests have increased.”
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And he added: “After the murder of Dr. Miguel Uribe Turbay, a new population arose that was not previously protected: the presidential candidates. This was something that was not foreseen in the entity’s budget. We began the hiring process and the money did not arrive and we had to reduce the zones and prioritize 1 and 2, which covers congressmen and government officials and some social leaders. But that does not mean that, as needs arise in other areas, we cannot add contracts, just as the service is being provided.”
When EL TIEMPO asked him about the acquisition of the boats and the alleged cost overruns in the 2024 contract with a similar purpose, he said: “That was an issue that the Comptroller’s Office reviewed at the time and found nothing. Everything was in accordance with the contracting regulations and the law. In the new process“We have also requested support from the control entities, as we always do.”
In addition, he said that the boats and motors are part of a collective protection route: “The indigenous communities do not ask that we take escorts to their territories, but they do ask that we give them boats to be able to leave the reservations and move the agricultural products they grow.”
And regarding the hiring of bodyguards before the De La Espriella government arrives, which the new administration asked to stop, he said: “There are unfounded rumors that guerrillas or former guerrillas are going to be hired to protect the new president. That is totally false. The presidential protection headquarters is appointed by the new president and it is they who request the Police and UNP escorts for presidential security. “That has to go through a process of studies, polygraphs and even family verifications.”
Rodríguez also assured that they are in the process of formalizing nearly 6,000 bodyguards and that he wants to ready the hiring of vehicles and others due to a matter of responsibility with the new government: “It is not that they are going to arrive and do not have vehicles, escorts and so on. This is an issue of responsibility that has to be at the service of the incoming government.”
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