Since last Friday, EL TIEMPO revealed for the first time a failure of the Constitutional Court that limits the powers of the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) when investigating various entities, pointing out that the principle of separation of powers is being violated.
Indeed, in a decision, with a presentation by Judge Miguel Polo Rosero, it is stated that “the powers, in matters of free competition, to investigate and sanction the Legislative Branch, the Judicial Branch, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office, the National Electoral Council (CNE), the National Registry Office and the Bank of the Republic are unconstitutional”for ignoring that constitutional principle.
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“Institutional gag”
This was Cielo Rusinque’s pronouncement. Photo:X: @cielo_rusinque
And although the CNE appears on the list that the ruling protects, one of its new members, Cielo Rusinque, former superintendent of Industry and Commerce, reacted to the decision, which she described as “institutional gagging.”.
During his administration, The SIC made inspection visits to entities such as the Registry, demanding mirror copies of confidential information, under the umbrella of processes of violation of free competition. In fact, cell phones of senior officials were requested.
Now, through his networks, Rusinque assured: “After many years, in a jurisprudential turn whose justification remains to be seen, the powers of inspection, surveillance and control of the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce are once again the subject of controversy. This time, the debate takes place within the Constitutional Court, which is preparing a ruling that considerably restricts the orbit of action of this entity, by preventing administrative visits and investigations from being carried out against several autonomous entities and their officials, in particular, the Legislative and Judicial branches and organizations such as the Registrar’s Office, the Comptroller’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office.“.
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‘Who can defend us?’
Cielo Rusinque, former Superintendent of Industry and Commerce; and Hernán Penagos, National Registrar. Photo:Private file
And he adds: “Beyond the legal dimension of the discussion, on which I will comment in detail once the Court’s ruling is known in its entirety, I want to warn public opinion about the deep repercussions that a decision of this nature would have in the fight against impunity and economic corruption. Our thesis, which guided the administrative practice of those who preceded us, is that the scope of action of the SIC, as a national authority for free competition, covers all economic agents in the market, regardless of their condition. Thanks to these powers, sophisticated illegal structures have been dismantled whose behavior seriously and directly affects the proper functioning of the economy, consumer rights and public resources.“.
Rusinque assures that, after the high court ruling, the question is: “Who can defend us? Many and very powerful interests are behind this institutional muzzling. The manipulation has been systematic and has operated from all fronts: unions, traditional press, social networks and sectors of academia with clear conflicts of interest. To achieve their objective, they have had no qualms about resorting to the crudest disqualifications, even going so far as to designate me as the political police of a regime that was going to plunge us into the abyss of misery. None of that happened, butit seems, they will get their way. I invite you to think critically and judge from common sense: what is the purpose of those who want to escape the surveillance of the Superintendency? Why, if their behavior is irreproachable, do they want the billion-dollar contracts they enter into not to have any type of control??
The current CNE magistrate concluded her statement by assuring: “It seems to me that a clue is in Bolívar’s famous phrase: “In the shadow of mystery, only crime works.” And, meanwhile, thanks to the investigations that our administration carried out, without political bias, The Government, through its spokesperson from the Casa de Nariño, presents as a great triumph a case that we advanced, structured and carried to its ultimate consequences, but we will see if the sanction it imposes will be calculated based on objective criteria as my administration did or if they will act motivated by the will to persecute and intolerance that has characterized them.“.
For officials of the SIC itself, with its trills, Rusinque would be challenging the Court itself and calling into question the ruling of a closing court.
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