The appointment of Margarita Arango as operations manager of Teleantioquia once again raises alarm bells about the intricate relationships that mining operated by large multinationals has had with politics in Antioquia, due to the mining delegation. Relationship where the main affected have been the inhabitants of the territories, who in various parts have expressed their concern through social demonstrations that cannot be stigmatized by those who are part of the Government.
In her last days as an AngloGold Ashanti worker, Arango showed on her social networks that she considered that the mobilization of the community in Jericó due to the Quebradona project corresponded to acts of vandalism. Expressions that worry about who is going to be in charge of the most watched open television channel in Colombia.
It should not be forgotten that the company from which it comes, Anglo Gold Ashanti, has been mentioned by the Truth Commission which indicates in its reports that it received mining concessions in the department of Chocó in territories that were being claimed by indigenous groups, taking advantage of the situation of violence that affected these territories.
The Commission has also said that it managed a straw man model to obtain the mining titles, in which Santiago Vélez Uribe has been involved, who, as Senator Iván Cepeda pointed out at the time, obtained 17 mining titles between 1993 and 2009, which he transferred to Anglo Gold Ashanti. 10 of these titles were delivered between 2008 and 2009, when Rendón was Secretary of Government of Luis Alfredo Ramos and where the delivery of mining titles was in charge of the Ministry of Mines due to the mining delegation.
While he was part of the Cabinet of the Government of Antioquia of Luis Alfredo Ramos, another worrying irregularity occurred related to the delivery of mining titles. At the end of the Ramos administration, multiple concessions were given to the multinational Grupo de Bullet SAS, which together with AngloGold Ashanti has the Gramalote mining project, in San Roque. Nine titles were delivered on December 19, 2011, less than a month before the end of Ramos’ term.
The Secretary of Mines and in charge of delivering titles for the mining delegation was Nicolás López García. Just three months after leaving office, the accounting reported by the Bullet Group shows a refund of more than $62 million pesos to López García, and $23 million pesos to Luis Alfredo Ramos’s son, Alfonso Ramos. The suspicious payments were justified by having conveniently gone to work in a Bullet Group company 15 days after leaving office, although Esteban Ramos denied having received any money.