Jaime Beltrán in an image posted on his social networks.
The Colombians began the afternoon of January 21 with an earthquake.
Suspicions were soon confirmed.
The epicenter—as almost always—was the municipality of Los Santos, in Santander, the place with the highest seismic activity in the country.
In Bucaramanga, the capital of the department, the movement was felt especially strongly and, a few minutes later, Mayor Jaime Beltrán reported the lack of regrettable consequences with a video on his X account. He closed his short statement, in which he also It was referring to the wave of fires that affected the surroundings of the city, with a particular invitation.
“Let us ask God to bless our land,” he stated.
It was not the first time that he displayed his beliefs, nor was it the last.
Now Beltrán — who does not hesitate to declare himself an admirer of Nayib Bukele and defender of justice by his own hands — gives way to a monthly program of Christian worship in the Municipal Government facilities.
The mayor, like his father, is a Christian pastor.
His electoral base has been the parishioners of the Path to Freedom Evangelistic Movement, his church.
His electoral debut in 2011, when he ran for the Bucaramanga Council with the endorsement of the Liberal Party, was a complete success.
He was chosen as the candidate with the most votes, a feat he repeated four years later.
Buoyed by his good performance, he broke with liberalism and aspired to be mayor in 2019 under the protection of Colombia Justa Libres, a Christian political party.
He came in second place, ensuring him a third term as councilman.
Appropriating the discourse of a strong hand and security, last October he obtained 91,372 votes (34.6%) in the Mayoral elections.
He beat his immediate pursuer, Councilman Carlos Parra, of the center-left Green Alliance, by more than twice as much.
Beltrán has incorporated his religious beliefs into his work as president.
The most recent example is a circular declaring that on the first Thursday of every month Christian liturgies will be held in one of the Mayor's auditoriums.
“The Administrative Undersecretary of Human Talent informs about the organization of celebrations for other Christian cults, different from the Catholic Church,” the document reads.
With the signature of Senaida Téllez, the Undersecretary of Human Talent, the regulations stipulate that the obligation to organize the ceremony will rotate month by month between the different secretariats and offices of the Mayor's Office.
For example, the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for the March service and the Ministry of Health was in charge of the last service of the year, in December.
Report from the Mayor's Office of Bucaramanga. COURTESY
Beltrán's private secretary, lawyer Cristián Portilla, stressed that Catholic officials have had the possibility "for 10 years" of attending masses in the Mayor's auditoriums.
He insisted that the intention of the circular is to extend that benefit to people who profess other faiths.
“Voluntarily, whoever wants to do so is allowed, in the space in which he works, to exercise his constitutional guarantee,” he explained before the microphones of
W Radio
.
El PAÍS contacted Portilla, but did not receive a response.
Manuel Parada, advisor to the mayor's office, justifies the content of the circular.
He argues the benefit it can generate on the mental health of believers.
“I know people who have depression problems and look for support in religion.
That gives them peace.
Furthermore, they are not mandatory.
I was, several years ago, in the Government, and Catholic masses were celebrated.
Nobody told me I had to go, I never went,” he says.
The 1991 Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, after more than a century of primacy of the Catholic religion.
For Sergio Fernández, professor at the Faculty of Law of the Externado University, the circular violates the principle of secularism of the State that is stated in the Political Charter.
In his opinion, public entities must maintain neutrality towards all beliefs and separate themselves from churches.
“The Catholic Church has had a lot of privileges because until 1991 it was the official church of the State.
From then on, when the Constitution was changed, one would have thought that those privileges, such as granting spaces in public entities to celebrate masses, were going to end.
What has happened, in a misinterpretation of the principle of secularism, is that these privileges have been extended to other churches.
The same thing happens with taxes.
The Catholic Church continues to be exempt from paying them, and so do the other churches,” he specified.
In the week of his inauguration, Jaime Beltrán signed a decree that restricts the consumption of drugs and alcohol within a 60-meter perimeter of parks and historical areas.
As its first major measure to combat crime, the Mayor's Office organized an event in San Pío Park, a traditional meeting place in the city.
The attending media recorded that the launch of this local State policy was accompanied by music and religious praise, of the type that can now be heard in the auditorium of the Mayor's Office.
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