The case that revealed the 'modus operandi' of corruption in Colombian politics

The decline of Mario Castaño's political career began before his capture.

There was one week left before the 2022 legislative elections when, on March 5, the authorities arrested nine people accused of belonging to a criminal network that collected bribes in exchange for the awarding of million-dollar contracts with public entities.

The detainees were related to the then liberal senator, who was dedicated to his campaign to secure a third consecutive term in Congress.

He achieved his goal thanks to 68,315 votes, but before taking office he was arrested.

Soon the truth came to light in a case that has grown like a snowball until it spilled over to other important politicians.

Pierre García, director of the Administrative Department for Social Prosperity (DPS) during the end of Iván Duque's term, is the most recent.

Castaño dominated the Liberal Party in the department of Caldas, where he was from, although little was known to the average citizen in other regions.

He studied Accounting, specialized in Management and accumulated experience as a university professor and public servant.

He successfully ventured into electoral politics in 2014, reaching the House, and four years later he revalidated his strength by jumping to the Senate.

Those years catapulted him.

Due to the influence he had at the national level, it was common for candidates for the municipal mayors of Caldas to fight for his support.

That entire shelf of power, founded on handouts and clientelism, collapsed in a year and a half.

In June 2022, officials from the Prosecutor's Office arrested the then senator as he left the National Capitol, in the center of Bogotá.

Aristides Betancurt, his lawyer, denied any connection between Castaño and the crimes for which he was being investigated.

“The evidence that the Prosecutor's Office has, it assimilates as if it were true and what the defense has is strictly technical.

“I respect what the Prosecutor's Office and the Court say, but we must carry out the legal debate at the appropriate time,” he stated on Caracol Radio.

But the evidence collected against his client was compelling.

The Supreme Court of Justice, in charge of trying him for his status as a congressman, announced that it would subject him “to investigation as the alleged leader of a criminal organization, for conspiracy to commit a crime, undue interest in the execution of contracts, embezzlement, extortion and fraud.”

Two months later, in August, Castaño accepted responsibility for not being able to deny the obvious.

The sentence he received, in June 2023, was 15 years and 11 months in prison, of which he served a minimal fraction because he died last November following cardiac arrest.

Castaño was the head of an elaborate system to direct contracts from state institutions.

Between 2020 and March 2022, according to judicial investigations, the Caldense politician influenced the allocation of 43,000 million pesos from the treasury (almost 10.2 million dollars) and always charged for his irregular services.

His tentacles reached entities of various kinds—the DPS;

the Ministries of the Interior and Sports;

the Risk Management Unit;

the Government of Chocó;

the National Learning Service (SENA), among others—and affected projects that were carried out in different areas of Colombia.

For example, it was shown that Sacúdete al Parque, the policy developed by then-president Iván Duque to build sports centers in small municipalities, was permeated by Castaño's criminal network.

If a mayor wanted his town to benefit from this initiative, the politician would ensure it in exchange for a percentage of the money allocated to carry out the work.

The Prosecutor's Office demonstrated that the former liberal senator carefully chose who he incorporated into his criminal network to perfect his actions.

Nearly 60 people are included in the evidentiary material.

One of the names that caught the attention of the authorities the most was that of Nova Lorena Cañón, a

lobbyist

who took advantage of her closeness to Juliana Márquez, mother of then-president Iván Duque, to manage projects in favor of Castaño's interests. .

“[Cañón] apparently requested information on the progress of the proposals, called meetings with public officials, held personal meetings with local leaders and complied with the instructions given by the senator-elect [Castaño], who would be the articulator of the corruption network. ", indicated the Prosecutor's Office.

Cañón has defended that the president's mother was not aware.

The last episode of the scandal began in December of last year, just weeks after Castaño's death.

The Supreme Court announced the arrest of Ciro Ramírez, senator of the right-wing Democratic Center - the group founded by former President Álvaro Uribe - for collecting bribes to determine who would be the builders of 13 works in the departments of Quindío and Tolima.

The crimes for which former President Duque's co-partisan is accused are related to the plot led by Castaño.

“These facts emerge from the investigation and trial against Congressman Mario Alberto Castaño, convicted by the Trial Chamber for corruption in contracting,” the Court indicated.

That same month, former Uribista congressman Pierre García was charged with the crimes of conspiracy to commit a crime and undue interest in the execution of contracts, committed during his time as deputy director and director of the Duque DPS, between June 2021 and July 2022. The Prosecutor's Office requested his arrest for allegedly guiding the allocation of million-dollar resources that went to infrastructure projects in Quindío, Tolima and Valle del Cauca.

There is, according to the accusing body, a record of meetings that García held with other people involved, including Ramírez's legislative advisors who served as emissaries.

García is in France, a country of which he is also a national.

The Prosecutor's Office requested that an extradition request be issued.

However, the agreements in force between both Governments stipulate that this type of deliveries will not be carried out when the person requested is a citizen of one of the parties.

Conservative senators Miguel Ángel Barreto and Samy Merheg have also been named in the hearings.

The magnitude of the research may continue to grow.

The truth of the corruption network did not die with Mario Castaño.

Subscribe here

to the EL PAÍS newsletter about Colombia and

here to the WhatsApp channel

, and receive all the key information on current events in the country.