Last October 1, in the 39th Administrative Court of the Fourth Section of Bogotá, a closed-door hearing was held in which a pair of plaintiffs are demanding that justice clarify the ownership of a mega-haciendalocated in the municipality of Samacá, Boyacá, known as El Rosario.
It is an extensive property, dating back to the 16th century, which served as a convent of the community of the Dominican fathers, but today is one of the most sumptuous properties in the region, adapted as a recreational estate.
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Change of hands
Cayetana Valencia and her husband Juan Carlos Pastrana Arango. Photo:THE TIME
Although the case is being handled confidentially, and copies of the file have even been denied, The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO established that the documents mention foundations and figures from national public life such as Camilo Gómez Alzate, counselor commissioned for Peace during the government of Andrés Pastrana.and a member of that presidential family: the lawyer Juan Carlos Pastrana Arango.
The most recent movement within the file was the request for the statements of two people who were members of the Simón Bolívar Foundation, created by former president Misael Pastrana Borrero, among other prominent politicians of the time. It is a center of conservative thought that is currently in liquidation.
According to the lawsuit, using the popular action figure –promoted by Jorge Hernán Garzón Castellanos and assisted by lawyer Ramiro Bejarano–, the magnificent asset is being exploited privately by Juan Carlos Pastrana Arangodespite the fact that it was acquired after a donation from the German Konrad Adenauer foundation.
To support this statement, the plaintiff attached a public deed dated August 10, 1987, which includes a minutes of the members’ assembly of the Simón Bolívar Foundation.
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The contract
This is one of the sections of the members’ minutes of the Simón Bolívar Foundation. Photo:EL TIEMPO Investigative Unit
According to that document, said foundation and Konrad Adenauer, based in Bonn, Germany, entered into a contract through which the former received 32,500,000 pesos of the time as a donation, to acquire the plot of land and the construction, called Casa El Rosario. in the Tibaquirá village of Samacá, Boyacá.
“The property serves as the country headquarters and service center of the Simón Bolívar Foundation, as well as for holding seminars,” reads in the minutes of the hearing attended by Misael Pastrana, as president of that assembly, Rafael Ortega Samper, as secretary; and a representative of Konrad Adenauer.
Three warnings were also left in the minutes. The first is that the Simón Bolívar Foundation had to refrain from selling, leasing, renting, affecting or encumbering the property, without the agreement of the German foundation.at least until December 31, 2001, under penalty of having to return the money.
It is also noted that Ownership was to be transferred to Konrad in the event that the Colombian foundation was dissolved before the same date. The specific thing is that the plaintiffs claim that the property ended up being sold, on April 2, 2010, to a corporation linked to the Pastranas, and which was later transferred to a company in Panama in transactions that are demanding clarification.
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The Panamanian firm
This is the deed of the creation of the Casa de Bolívar foundation, in Panama. Photo:EL TIEMPO Investigative Unit
“The Simón Bolívar Foundation in liquidation sold the Hacienda El Rosario property, located in the rural area of the municipality of Samacá, to the Misael Pastrana Borrero Corporation by way of purchase and sale. for Political and Environmental Research, for the sum of 209,860,200 pesos,” the lawsuit reads.
Lawyer Ramiro Bejarano explains what they are asking to investigate: “The law says that when a non-profit foundation is dissolved, the assets have to go to another non-profit foundation. And here what ended up happening is that it was dissolved, the assets were passed on to another one linked to the Patranas and then that one ended up selling it to the Panamanian for-profit foundation. That is, one foundation was liquidated and they passed it on to another. The law was flouted. And in that way Juan Carlos Pastrana was left with a property that had a specific purpose, a conservative cultural center”.
The lawyer Ramiro Bejarano. Photo:Externado University
And they draw attention to the fact that the same person signed the transaction on behalf of the seller and the buyer. The signer is Camilo Arturo Gómez Alzate, who at that time had the role of liquidator of the Simón Bolívar Foundation.
The lawsuit also says that the property It was only three years in the hands of the Misael Pastrana Corporation and that at that moment the Panamanian firm Fundación Casa de Bolívar entered the scene.
According to documents held by the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO, This was created on September 29, 2011 by Juan Carlos Pastrana Arango, his wife Cayetana Valencia Laserna and Camilo Arturo Gómez Alzate.
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A strategy?
Hacienda El Rosario, in Samacá, Boyacá. Photo:Private file
Although it has a foundation title, The lawsuit indicates that it is an entity of private interest and that the transaction was, in August 2013for 220 million pesos at the time.
“It is curious that the Casa de Bolívar Foundation could pay 220,000,000 million pesos for the hacienda in question, when his incorporation assets were barely $10,000,” the complaint says.
And it is added: “The Simón Bolívar Foundation, instead of immediately proceeding to liquidation as soon as it was dissolved, executed a strategy so that its main and only asset would finally be in the hands of another Panamanian foundation.”
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‘It has no basis’
Camilo Gomez Alzate Photo:National Legal Defense Agency
EL TIEMPO contacted Camilo Gómez, mentioned several times in the lawsuit, who from the outset assured that the popular action has no future because this mechanism is intended to defend public interests and this transaction was between private parties.
For the former Peace Commissioner, close to the Pastrana family, it is clear that the house was purchased from a private firm, with private capital for private purposes.
And he also explained that He was not informed about the sale to the Germans because the only established condition had already been met. to alienate the property.
EL TIEMPO also communicated with the attorney for Juan Carlos Pastrana and his wife in this process, who agreed with Gómez about the transparency of the transaction.And he attributed the issue to political persecution due to recent elections (see box).
In any case, The process continues and efforts are being made for two other prominent members of national public life to testify.
For now, The only thing the locals say is that the property was rented a few years ago, but that recently a mayor of the area tried to rent it and they informed him that it was only for the use of the Pastrana family.
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Attorney for Juan C. Pastrana speaks
Jorge Enrique Ramírez Yañez, lawyer. Photo:EL TIEMPO Investigative Unit
EL TIEMPO contacted Jorge Enrique Ramírez, attorney for Juan Carlos Pastrana and his wife Cayetana Valencia, who began by assuring that the lawsuit is political persecution: “There is nothing illegal in the negotiation of that property. There is not a single cent from the State. A popular action must be initiated when there is a violation of public morality and it has not happened here. My clients will be exonerated.”
Ramírez explained that The house was bought with money from the German donation, but he said that it was an issue between private individuals and that, when they stopped receiving support from Konrad Adenauer, the Pastrana foundation could not continue supporting the house. and that is why Juan Carlos Pastrana bought it for his private use.
In addition, he assured that they do not know who the plaintiff is and that they had to inject a lot of money into the house to make it habitable and remodel it: “The house met the initial objective; after that, Konrad Adenauer released the mortgage and the negotiation was carried out. Everything is transparent.”
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