He government of former president Gustavo Petro faces a new scandal of alleged state corruption, this time due to the alleged instrumentalization of women who would have been hired in the Dapre in exchange for sexual favors. The main person involved in what would be a sexual exploitation network is the former president, who could be immersed in legal consequences if the allegations against him are proven.
The person who publicly denounced the alleged sexual exploitation network is Angie Rodríguez, former director of Dapre in the Petro era, who indicated that some suspicious contracts had been delivered in his entity. At the same time, the current head of Dapre, Carlos Andrés Ríosannounced a complaint against former president Gustavo Petro for the alleged exploitation of women.
Ríos found at least 48 contracts in Dapre that would have been given to women who had an alleged extra-work proximity with the former head of Government. “The complaints that we are filing and let’s dobecause personally I’m going to do itof the 48 women that President Petro had, which unfortunately he instrumentalized them at the tip of OPS“Rios said.
Angie Rodriguez. Photo:MAURICIO MORENO
Petro denied any fact that links the delivery of contracts with his private life. “I have never given a contract in exchange for sexual relations. I would throw up on myself if I ever did something like that.. Helping poor women, mothers who are heads of households and who do sex work, so that they have different life options, as I have demonstrated in public administration through specific and funded programs, is something very different from giving contracts in exchange for sexual relations,” he stated.
The authorities have already begun to take action on this matter. Both the Attorney’s Office like the Attorney General’s Office They put a magnifying glass on the alleged improper hiring. The first of them opened a preliminary investigation to establish responsibilities in Dapre, while the accusing body is more advanced and announced that Angie Rodríguez and Laura Sarabia will be summoned to give statements as former heads of Dapre.
The director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre), Carlos Ríos. Photo:Screenshot Canal Congreso Colombia
In the scandal, the name of one of the alleged parties was already known. Deyci Jiménez reported in a conversation with Semana magazine that in 2019 she met Petro on an adult content page where she worked. At that time, he was a senator of the Republic. There are at least 30 women like her in the same conditions: hired in public entities in exchange for sexual favors.
In this regard, the Deputy Prosecutor Gilberto Guerrero He stated that the investigation into this case was known since October 23, when Angie Rodríguez publicly told what she knew. Regarding calling Deyci Jiménez to testify, The senior official of the Prosecutor’s Office stated that the team in charge of the investigation will surely do it..
“This happens with people who make public demonstrations where they are even incriminating themselves. In that case we should not call them to sworn interviews, but we have to call them, because they have the right to remain silent, to an interrogation of the accused, which is a different thing. This is what happened last week with Angie Rodríguez. She, in some elements of her intervention, could be considered that in some way she could be classified as suspected.“Guerrero assured.
Deyci Jiménez. Photo:Private file
Regarding the criminal consequences against Gustavo Petro, experts consulted by this newspaper highlighted that the Prosecutor’s Office has no jurisdiction to investigate him due to the jurisdiction it has. Here we must explain two possible scenarios that the former president faces. According to the criminalist Felipe Alzatethe competition depends on whether Petro acted as senator or president.
“The Court has powers to investigate and judge congressmen for conduct related to their status as such.as well as powers regarding certain gauges. For its part, the Investigation and Accusation Commission is in charge of investigations against the President of the Republic and the former presidents for events that, in accordance with the Constitution, correspond to that special regime,” Alzate pointed out.
Bunker building of the Attorney General’s Office Photo:Jesus Blanquicet. EL TIEMPO Archive
For his part, the Criminal lawyer Juan Felipe Criollo also stressed that the first thing will be to “determine the time of the events and when they ceased.”because if these continued under the jurisdiction and presidential mandate, it will be the responsibility of the Commission of Accusations.” To establish this, and thus know which authority could be called to respond, the testimony delivered by Deyci Jiménez will be key.
Carlos López – @CarlosL49 – carben@eltiempo.com
