His name and face were not known and, however, he was involved in multiple activities of the Colombian State.
Euclides Torres used to move behind the scenes, trying not to appear, but the arrival of Gustavo Petro at the Casa de Nariño ended that aura of mystery.
The focus of public opinion is on him, especially in a week in which his role in the financing of the current president's campaign returned to the fore, the awarding of million-dollar public contracts to companies around him was revealed, and a project was criticized. of law that Congress is studying with the impetus of a pro-government senator who is the husband of his niece and who would provide legal benefits to other of those companies.
Torres went from behind the scenes, where he moved confidently, to the main stage.
The biggest noise was produced by the president's eldest son, Nicolás, who is being investigated by the Prosecutor's Office for money laundering.
The former Atlantic deputy sent the answers to an interrogation to the Impeachment Commission of the House of Representatives, in which he affirms that Torres provided help to his father's presidential aspiration.
When asked if the businessman from Puerto Colombia, Atlántico, gave cash to the campaign, he responded: “No, never.
We made requests of him;
For example, the platform or the sound of the platform is needed, but I never saw it.”
In September 2021, when the electoral race had not yet taken off, a massive event was held in the Plaza de La Paz, in Barranquilla.
Gustavo Petro served as master of ceremonies on a P-shaped platform - alluding to his surname - and in front of a full house.
Torres was the financier of the event, which was created by the current ambassador to the FAO and politician from the same department, Armando Benedetti.
The second issue recalls that the name of Euclides Torres never appears in the signed agreements.
But around him there are a series of people who serve as partners, administrators or legal representatives of a network of companies in which the businessman has influence.
They are dedicated to managing services granted or contracted by the State, such as the installation of public lighting or administrative procedures for road traffic, among others.
It was this area of business that drew attention to him this week.
A legislative initiative proposes to modify the Control and Surveillance System (SICOV), the tool with which the authorities monitor system offices such as diagnostic centers that carry out mandatory inspections of vehicles, or automotive teaching centers.
The proposal has quickly sparked protests against it.
The National Association of Industrialists (ANDI) warns that the text presented excludes potential competitors in SICOV and ensures that contracts continue to be awarded to the companies that currently execute them, among which are several that it has an impact.
Senator David Luna, of the opposition Cambio Radical, has already requested that the proposal be archived due to a possible conflict of interest.
The author of the project is Roy Barreras, the former president of the pro-government Senate, but the person who has promoted it so that it has already been approved in two debates is his bench colleague Pedro Flórez.
The same senator, who according to
La Silla Vacía
included an amendment in the project so that the SICOV applies to more procedures, is a rookie in politics who came to Congress in 2022 thanks to being included in the closed list of the Historical Pact, the left-wing coalition led by the president.
In addition to this second front that brought Torres to the center of the debate, an investigation by
La Silla Vacía
showed that an entity about which little or nothing is known would have favored the tangle of companies linked to Torres.
The Non-Conventional Energy and Efficient Energy Management Fund (Fenoge), attached to the Ministry of Mines, has provided operations for more than 180,000 million pesos (60 million dollars).
Pablo Barrera, the director of Fonage, denied on Blu Radio that the contracts were firm, but the documents from the Electronic Public Procurement System (Secop) refute his version.
The businessman is used to the circles of power.
His sister-in-law Martha Villalba, from the right-wing La U party, and his brother Dolcey Torres, from the Liberal Party, sit in the House of Representatives;
and in the Senate he occupies a seat with Flórez, the husband of one of his nieces.
In addition to the relationships, his closeness with Benedetti, Petro's right-hand man in his 2022 electoral victory, stands out. That fraternity, which includes electoral alliances between the also former senator and several relatives of Torres, was the one that served as bridges between the contractor and the Petrism.
On Sunday, June 19, 2022, Petro hosted a private celebration at his residence after electoral authorities announced his final victory.
Torres attended the event.
In a video it was recorded how the president-elect was received by friends and collaborators, who hugged him and congratulated him on the historic feat of achieving the left's access to the Presidency.
In one shot Torres appears in the background, smiling and calm.
The scene went unnoticed until this week.
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