Judge Orders Assurance Measure Against Chocó Governor for Contract Irregularities

A judge of the Bogotá Court issued an immediate arrest and security measure in house detention against the governor of Chocó, Ariel Palacios Calderón. The official was accused by the Prosecutor's Office of prevaricato, omission and contract without compliance with legal requirements, for his alleged responsibility for the irregularities of a contract signed for 220 million pesos to deal with covid-19 in the region.

The contract in question is No. 003, signed on April 3, 2020 for the purchase of biosafety elements to prevent the virus. According to the Attorney General's Office, the anomalies of the document are the absence of motivation and description of the necessity, quantity, type and destination of the articles, alleged falsehoods in the pre-contractual stage and the lack of suitability of the contractor.

In addition, the governor would not have verified compliance with essential requirements among them, that of publishing the contract in the Electronic Public Procurement System (SECOP) within three days after the conclusion, since it was done three months after what the law says. The crimes that were charged to Palacios Calderón were those of contract without compliance with legal requirements and prevarication by omission.

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Another decision taken by the judges of the court against the governor was to remove him from the position in which he is serving. It is important to rescue that in April 2020, the then Attorney General of the Nation, Fernando Carrillo, suspended it for 3 months at the same time that he ordered to open an investigation for a contract worth more than 2 billion pesos, considered to be “highly inconvenient” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The other judicial mess surrounding him began in March 2021, when the Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment with the Special Chamber of First Instance of the Supreme Court of Justice against the president for alleged irregularities in the contracting of educational and advertising activities that did not meet the necessary requirements, in order to mitigate the spread of the pandemic in Chocó.

According to the delegate to the Supreme Court of Justice, Gabriel Ramón Jaimes Durán, the facts investigated relate to the “contract for the provision of services No. 198 of April 15, 2020, signed directly with the Chocó Saludable Foundation, to hold health days and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on 27 municipalities”.

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On January 17, the Office of the Delegate Attorney for Follow-up to the Final Peace Agreement asked the then Governor of Chocó, Ariel Palacios, for a report on the actions taken in relation to the massive forced displacement that occurred in Medio San Juan, in order to provide humanitarian assistance and ensure the protection of public policy on victims.

During the visit to the capital of Chocó, the Public Ministry met with leaders and social leaders to listen to them and learn about their problems, the difficulties they are experiencing in their communities due to violence and offer institutional support to find articulated solutions, according to the entity.

During the meetings, it was emphasized that it is necessary to monitor the management indicators of the Comprehensive Security and Citizen Coexistence Plans and to make them publicly known in a timely and participatory manner.

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