A few days ago, a scandal broke out that has the president’s son, Gustavo Petro, Nicolás and some members of the cabinet in the eye of the hurricane. Everything was reported by the testimony of Day Vásquez, the ex-wife of Petro Burgos, in a Colombian media outlet where she accused him of receiving money from people linked to or accused of the crime of drug trafficking and made public a series of chats that would prove that the young man was meeting with top politicians looking for a series of particular benefits, especially contracts.
Among the names of the politicians with whom he sought to close deals are several members of the Government, such as: the administrative director of the Presidency (Dapre), Mauricio Lizcano; the now former Minister of Education, Alejandro Gaviria; former senator Gustavo Bolívar (with whom they apparently had big differences); the Minister of Energy and Mines, Irene Vélez and the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, among others.
That is why on the morning of this March 6, through her official Twitter account, Minister Carolina Corcho, who has been involved in various issues, not only that of Nicolás Petro, but also the health reform project , He came out to defend himself against the accusations and the chats. In the short message, the official mentioned that although she held meetings with the president’s son, she never talked about said contracts or issues related to money.
“We have talked with Nicolás Petro, as has been done with congressmen, deputies, citizens and various representatives of social, union and political organizations. In these meetings, nothing was discussed or agreed on contracts, positions or perks, ”wrote the also doctor.
For his part, another of those who came out to talk about the issue and try to distance himself from the biggest scandal that this government has had in the seven months it has been in existence, was Minister Alfonso Prada, who in the chats published by Semana, is accused of having given 10 positions within the portfolio he leads. Even in the messages that Vásquez had with Petro Burgos, he asked his then partner for a resume and mentioned that it would be to link her to a position in the Ministry of the Interior or the Ombudsman’s Office.
“The word quotas does not exist in my language, it is not a common word, neither in the Ministry nor in my conversations, to award 10 quotas for nothing,” said the member of the executive
For his part, Nicolás Petro has emphasized that he will demonstrate that the money he has received in his accounts is legal and that the accusations made by his ex-partner are false: “Faced with the accusations that have been made against me in recent days , I would like to inform you that I am fully willing to appear before the control entities and confirm my innocence,” he wrote in a statement to public opinion.
In addition, he pointed out that regarding the photos and the address of his residence, his right to his private information was violated and this puts his life in danger: “Without authorization or prior conversation, it borders on harassment, I will always be open to respond to requests for the press, these days I have attended to the media that I could, but not everything is valid. I reject any interference in my personal and family life, in my residence and in affairs (…) as well as bank statements, which are duly justified with salary payments, bonuses and layoffs from my work as a deputy”. with Infobae