Colombian Consul in the United States reportedly used public resources irregularly

The government of President Iván Duque has been immersed in controversy since the beginning of the legislature, several ministers have been involved in both economic and social scandals; from the chief of defense portfolio to the most recent case with ICT Minister Karen Abudinen, they have become the most important events controversial aspects of the current mandate, to which another fact was allegedly added from the United States: the consul in Orlando, Florida, Claudia Maria Bustamante Ceballos, had used public resources irregularly.

As Noticias Uno was able to establish, last year Foreign Minister Claudia Bustamante organized the first Colombian institutional services fair in Orlando, Florida. The purpose of the initiative was to promote and support the Colombian population in this territory within the framework of the economic reactivation, since everything was taking place after the serious economic damage caused by the covid-19 pandemic. This fair was held between November 20 and 21, 2021.

Considering the magnitude of the event, Consul Bustamante initiated communication with the Foreign Ministry and made an important request, asking for $35,000 to carry out this event. By resolution 0934 F of August 4, 2021, the request was approved; “to allocate the sum of 35,000.00 US DOLLARS in favor of the COLOMBIAN CONSULATE IN ORLANDO to defray the expenses cited in the motivating part of this resolution,” the document cited.

The controversy arose after some particular charges were made to the attendees of this event; as some packages would have been made to be part of the fair. The cost of these packages ranged from 1,000 to $3,000, the price varied depending on the benefits they could obtain, such as: preferential location, mentions in speeches, presence on screens. These charges were referred to as the “cost of participation for local sponsors”.

The attendees were invited via email to the user's email milton.valderrama@cancilleria.gov.co, and Noticias Uno was able to learn the content of these emails, which cited:

The scandal grows due to the fate of the money collected, since it would not have been deposited in a state account, but, presumably, in an account of a private nature. The consul's argument for the request for the $35,000 is that this money would be used for the rental and logistics of the place, since in addition to renting the site, both chairs, platforms and other elements were required to complement the place.

Rental Depot had a cost of $19,000 to award the lease and rental of the equipment. However, this company is not engaged in the aforementioned area and is owned by Colombian businesswoman Marcela Restrepo, a woman who would allegedly be close to Consul Bustamante's social circle.

Marcela Restrepo registers as CEO and founder of the company SkyBuilders USA, a company that was part of the fair's spaces. Also, Noticias Uno established that in the middle of the event a raffle was held for a US-Colombia ticket, and the winner of this was Restrepo.

Faced with these events, several Colombians complained to the Foreign Ministry, which had decided to open an investigation against Consul Claudia Bustamante and Carlos Darío Córdoba, director of the Colombia Nos Une program. However, there is no official communiqué from the National Government at this time.

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