President Gustavo Petro He has just called Victoria González Ariza, the Colombian ambassador in Guatemala, for a consultation, after the Prosecutor of that country assured that it will take legal action against the Colombian Defense Minister, Iván Velásquez, for his performance before the International Commission Against Impunity (Cicig).
“I will never accept the arrest warrant for our minister Velasquez. He proved to fight against corruption and we will not allow corruption to persecute him. Our ambassador is immediately called for consultation,” Petro said on his Twitter account.
The accusation against Minister Velásquez was made by the Guatemalan prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche within the corruption case that links the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, for which today three new arrest warrants were requested against former officials of the Prosecutor’s Office and Cicig.
(Read more of the declaration in Guatemala here: Odebrecht: Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office points to Iván Velásquez; Defense Ministry responds)
“The Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity will take legal action to hold the former Cicig commissioner Iván Velásquez accountable for his illegal and abusive acts,” Curruchiche said during an official message.
Velásquez is accused of allowing the approval of cooperation agreements, according to Curruchiche, anomalous, with two Brazilian executives of the Odebrecht construction company in 2017.
Following this statement, Velásquez said in a statement from the Ministry of Defense released on Monday night that “I have not been notified of any requirement by the Guatemalan authorities,” and that he has “the peace of mind that the work carried out in the Central American country was carried out with total transparency and within the legal framework that protected the operation of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala”
“My commitment to transparency, justice and the fight against impunity has been and will continue to be the hallmark of my work as a public servant. and now as Minister of National Defense”, he added.
EFE, ELTIEMPO.COM AND JUSTICE