A new year arrives and, as always, many expectations are in the minds of the Chocoanos. Things are not going well, but at least new winds of renewal are perceived, whose effect on the psyche is quite positive, since this results in a general prospecting of its people.
And one of those expectations, falls on the appointment of the lawyer and specialist in administrative law, Farlin Perea Rentería, whose appointment after more than 10 months, finally resolves the vacancy, after the suspension of the position of Ariel Palacios Calderón as governor of the department of Chocó, for alleged irregularities in a contract for more than $200 million in biosafety elements for the Covid 19 pandemic, which seriously affected governance and of course the traceability of administrative processes, of a department impoverished by its own children .
The recent governor in charge of Chocó, has more than 10 years of experience in the public sector, through legal consultancies to private and government companies, professor at a prestigious university and manager of ethnic groups in the Medellín mayor’s office (last position) in the current administration of Daniel Quintero, where he did an excellent job in favor of the vindication of the rights of the ethnic communities settled in the Aburrá Valley.
His appointment occurs after a series of setbacks with the shortlist of prospects elected by the Conservative, Green and Liberal parties, the latter where Perea Rentería is a member, and which ultimately are the groups that formed the political alliance, called CONCOR, which It was the winner in the last regional elections of 2020.
But Farlin Perea will not find it easy. To the usual attacks produced by some who confuse loyalty with political empathy, there will surely be added the tripping of some officials who, due to an administrative career, will remain in his government. But watch out! This is not new. It is a “practice” that became normalized not only in Chocó but in other latitudes. Shelving documents, initiating operation sit-downs, and implementing operation turtle, are just some of the malpractices that the new president of the Chocoanos will face. I see it coming, it already happened with Jefferson Mena, governor in charge in 2020, after the first ruling of the Attorney General’s Office against the newly elected.
She will know how to handle it, the truth is that what I have seen so far I like: An official committed to her department, with a more panoramic vision of the Chocó problem, the result of having left 7 years ago for the most educated city in the country , Medellin. With the dynamism of coming from the Quintero administration, with management capacity, due to his relationships with the high government and Antioquian businessmen, but above all, with the independence that is required, due to his closeness to President Petro, who He has expressed his unrestricted support for her, putting all the state machinery at her complete disposal and who was the one who made the decision to choose her in the shortlist over two professionals with enormous capacities, both professional and personal, such as Yimmy Leiter Aguilar and Fernelix Valencia.
Among the challenges of the new governor is resolving the serious crisis at the San Francisco de Asís hospital, whose never-ending drama keeps medical care in limbo, because it is no secret to anyone that the largest and only second level hospital entity of the department, is a terminally ill, an unviable entity, which requires urgent but concrete actions to make it self-sustaining. She learned through social networks of her recent meetings with the controller of the medical center and with Carolina Corcho, Minister of Health and Social Protection. I liked that, because the need to rescue the health of Chocó, today kidnapped, is imperative, and that the resources that are invested do not continue to be stolen.
Restoring the trust in Chocoanos in their leaders, lost due to so many cases of corruption, is another point on which Farlin Perea must focus. El Chocó cannot bear one more scandal. The position of governor of Chocó seems to be synonymous with jail and we Chocoans have been losing credulity in our leaders due to their Non Sanctas actions. To do this, you must make specific decisions, which will not please a few, but everything is in the name of Chocó and its return to good paths.
Another issue is the recovery of the governance of the department, lost for more than 10 months of remaining in an administrative limbo due to the vacancy that, although it was “semi-covered” by the secretary of the interior, was not the same.
For the former senator, political analyst and now adviser, Rufino Córdoba, the fact that the Department of Chocó has been promoted to the third category for the first time is historic and extremely important, since it shows that good management has been carried out in terms of fiscal matters.
It is important to note that since the categorization of the departments was created; Chocó, was always in the 4th category. For the purposes of categorizing departments (Law 617/2000) and municipalities (Law 136/94 and Law 617/200) the population, unrestricted current income (ICLD) and the percentage of spending limit are considered as requirements. between operating expenses and unrestricted income.
The fact that the department of Chocó has gone to category 3 will allow it to improve the salaries of its employees and, most importantly, for having increased its own income or current unrestricted income resources by 45%, since they went from 40 billion in the previous administration (2019) to $58.3 billion in 2021, this will allow the department of Chocó for this year, due to this great fiscal and administrative effort, to increase its social investment resources (SGP), mainly in the education and health sectors.
However, there are issues that need to be looked at. According to data presented by the ONIC (National Indigenous Organization of Colombia) human rights observatory, 2022 became the worst year for indigenous groups in Colombia, reaching 453,018 affected indigenous people. According to the organization, violence against indigenous people intensified so much in 2022 in Colombia that, just counting the figure from December 1 to 31, there were 10,370 indigenous people affected, Chocó being the department with the most affectations (6,021), to mention just one of the difficulties that the president will have to face.
In summary, all the hopes of the Chocoanos are placed on Farlin Perea, and although we know that in his short period (one year), he will not be able to solve the various problems that this beautiful but long-suffering region has, his good will, his management and his commitment to fulfill this great task entrusted by President Gustavo Petro, will be essential.
God guide her!
Addendum:
We reject from this column, the threats by common criminals in Quibdó, against the directives of the Muntú Bantú cultural center that ended with the closure of its facilities.
There are things that are not touched, that are sacred and extort Sergio Mosquera, who keeps this Afro-diasporic space with his nails, dedicated to religiosity, ethnohistory and anthropology of black peoples and who sought to consolidate himself as a continental reference in the defense of the milestones that have marked a path for the fight for equality and respect for minorities, does not make any sense. What a shame!