The president of the Commission of Accusations of the House of Representatives, Wadith Manzur, and Senator Carlos Andrés Trujillo, both members of the Conservative Party and Mentioned at different times in the scandal over the irregular purchase of tank trucks in La Guajira for more than 43 billion, they are among the congressmen who have visited the Casa de Nariño the most.
This was established by the EL TIEMPO Data Unit after reviewing more than 57 thousand records of entries and exits from the Casa de Nariño that reside in the access control database to the Presidency. and that were delivered by the Dapre Information Systems and Technologies Office to this medium.
In the case of Manzur, the records indicate that he has entered the Casa de Nariño on 15 different occasions since August 7, 2022. The most recent happened on February 2. For his part, Trujillo has been at the Casa de Nariño a total of 18 times.
According to the records, The three congressmen who have been at the Executive headquarters the most belong to the Government bench. They are David Jaramillo Medina, from MAIS, with 30 occasions; Olga Lucía Velásquez Nieto, from the Green Alliance, with 29 entries and Gloria Elena Arizabaleta, from the Broad Democratic Alliance, with 19 entries.
However, it is striking that in this case two politicians from opposition parties have a greater presence in the Palace than many of the most recognized leaders of the pro-government groups.
But also, the visits of the two congressmen become important since both They have had to face accusations that link them to the corruption scandal that cost Olmedo López his head.director of the UNGRD, and the deputy director Sneyder Pinilla and who have splashed, through statements in the media, different political personalities in the country.
Visits of the President’s investigator
The most recent case of this connection is that of Wadith Manzur, president of the House Impeachment Committeelegislative cell in charge of investigating and carrying out possible trials against the President of the Republic.
In statements to Semana magazine, Olmedo López assured that the issue of tank cars “It’s up to those who are in possession. To give you just one name, the president of the Accusation Commission, Wadith Manzur, is one of the beneficiaries of this entire process.”
A few hours later, Manzur responded that the accusations are a “disgrace” and said he was calm because he had “never” spoken with the former director of the UNGRD. “I have asked the Supreme Court of Justice to investigate my conduct, and to call Mr. Olmedo López to testify in this investigation in order to clarify the facts”he added.
The congressman, who is part of one of the groups opposing the Government, has been president of the Accusation Commission since August 2, 2023. And precisely, already invested with these functions, He visited the Casa de Nariño twice. The first, on August 30 at 6:03 in the afternoon.
According to the records, the meeting was with Jaime Ramírez, advisor to the office of the Chief of Staff of the Presidency. The other visit, the most recent, was on February 28, 2024. There are no further details about it in the Presidency log, but it was a “working breakfast” at 8:30 in the morning. However, this medium was able to establish that it was a meeting with the entire Caribbean caucus to discuss the issue of electricity in that region of the country.
Manzur, already invested as president of the Commission of Accusations, visited the Casa de Nariño twice.
Before becoming president of the Commission, it is recorded in the Palace security reports that Manzur He was in three meetings with the then director of Dapre, Mauricio Lizcano, on October 5, 2022, December 1, 2023 and January 31, 2023.
An entry is also reported on March 8, 2023, at 2:52 in the afternoon, with Laura Sarabia, then President Petro’s Chief of Staff. Two days later Manzur returns for a new meeting with Lizcano and on March 22 returns to the Palace and entry is authorized “on instructions from the chief of staff.”
In April of last year, Manzur ran for the Presidency twice. The first for a meeting with congressmen and the other on the 24th to meet once again with Laura Sarabia. June first, He entered authorized by the secretary of the Dapre director’s office, Luz Alexandra Camacho, and on July 27, another meeting with Lizcano appeared.
EL TIEMPO also established that in November of last year there was a meeting that does not appear in the records of the Presidency to talk about the Health Reform, andI find that the conservative president, Efraín Cepeda, considered that he was not an “official” of the Party.
Representative Manzur responds
“Being president of the accusations commission I only entered twice. One at a business breakfast and the other I don’t remember exactly, but it could have been due to budget issues,” Manzur told EL TIEMPO.
“My duties as a congressman are not only limited to being president of the Commission of Accusations, I also have my legislative functions which makes the relationship with the Government the norm.l,” he added.
The congressman also said he “does not remember exactly” some of the 2022 and 2023 meetings. “Unfortunately I do not write down those things, but they are most likely topics of bills, of problems in the region or government issues because for much of that period the Conservative Party was the government party,” he emphasized.
Senator Trujillo’s visits
Senator Carlos Andrés Trujllo
Photo:Facebook Senator Carlos Andrés Trujillo
One day before being relieved as director of the Colombian Conservative Party, Senator Carlos Andrés Trujillo met with Laura Sarabia. The next day, the Antioquian political leader was replaced by Efraín Cepeda. One of the reasons, according to conservative voices, was Trujillo’s closeness to the current Government.
This has led to different sectors of opinion considering López as Trujillo’s political quota in the Government. In fact, Carlos Carrillo, current director of the UNGRD, He pointed out in an interview with EL TIEMPO that in the tanker scandal “all roads lead to Itagüí” and revealed that the congressman “inexplicably” got 20,000 votes in Uribia (La Guajira) being from Antioquia.
Trujillo has responded to this on social networks and has denied being López’s ‘political godfather’. And he did it, precisely, using screenshots of an interview in EL TIEMPO of the ill-fated former official, who claimed to have nothing to do with Trujillo. “Time is for truth,” he wrote.
Trill by Carlos Trujillo
Photo:TIME
But beyond the controversial links and closeness with Olmedo López, the fluid political relationship between the government of President Gustavo Petro and Senator Carlos Trujillo is evident with his constant visits to the Casa de Nariño. which began with his attendance at the welcome cocktail after the presidential inauguration, on August 7.
According to Presidency records, Trujillo moved between Laura Sarabia’s offices, both when she was chief of staff and in her current position in the Administrative Department of the Presidency (Dapre). and Mauricio Lizcano, who held the position that Sarabia holds today at the beginning of the government.
Of these meetings there is one in which it is specified that it was a working breakfast with the conservative bench on October 25, 2022. The others were recorded as encounters directly with Sarabia or Lizcano.
And in the most recent one, on February 20, 2024, it is only reported as a “meeting” and before that, on February 6, The legislator had met Sarabia once again, but already in her current position as director of Dapre.
