I do not dispute that Mayor German Casagua has the right to dance. Less, if it is one of his unbridled passions. Even less if he does it with his wife and his family. The problem is that he owes more than one explanation to the Neivans because, apparently, his permit times this weekend generate more doubts than certainties.
According to the Mayor’s own page, where the orders are published, decree 0277 of 2024 appears where the Mayor is commissioned to travel on an official mission to Bogotá on Thursday, May 2 in order to attend a meeting with the National Commission of the Civil Service and Bancolombia, leaving Neiva on Wednesday the 1st and returning the next day, reads a decree where Raúl Eduardo Mosquera is also charged as mayor in charge.
Surely Casagua was in Bogotá and participated in its government meetings, but everything seems to indicate that he stayed in the country’s capital and flew to Valledupar, to the Vallenato Festival, that same day. At least, this is confirmed by a video that the singer Elder Dayan Díaz, son of Diomedes Díaz, published on his social networks.
Didn’t Casagua imagine that the artist himself, without thinking, would expose him in the middle of the concert? Well that’s how it happened. Reviewing the Festival programming, the son of the Chief of the Junta entertained a concert on Friday, May 3, when the Mayor was already supposed to be in Neiva, according to the designation decree.
A high-fidelity source confirmed to me that the Mayor this week sent the request for permission to the Government of Huila to be absent from the city for three days. In the document he did not specify the place where he would be and stated “personal reasons” as the reason for his absence.
It was authorized by the Director of Departmental Planning, Camilo Lozano, who was acting governor. What will Rodrigo Villalba think? He – surely – would not have authorized that license if he knew, in advance, that the Mayor would end up having a party in Valledupar. Casagua is on the ropes because, of course, he was not in Neiva this Friday. For this reason, he did not attend President Gustavo Petro’s visit to Palermo.
Was Valledupar more important than receiving President Petro in Huila, to whom he could directly communicate his projects? Everything indicates that the Mayor traveled to Bogotá, took advantage of the holiday Wednesday and continued partying in Valledupar. Why did he not attend the opening of extraordinary sessions of the Neiva Council this Thursday, May 2, and delegate the mayor in charge, in the midst of strong tensions between him and the majority of councilors? Wasn’t it the opportunity to demonstrate a gesture of greatness and build bridges?
German Casagua has to support his defense very well for it to be credible. Because for the National Government it was demonstrated that the mayor is worth a thousandth of the President. And, the people of Neiva begin to understand that they are governed by a young and immature leader who puts his personal and family interests above those of the city. Regrettable.
