Mayor Pinedo says that photo with self-defense leader was leaked

According to the mayor, this act seeks to discredit him because they have not been able to remove him through judicial means and now they are trying to affect his image and, even worse, there is a plot to end his life.

“Everything shown in these images is manipulated. If you see the photo of the table, you cannot see the firearms that ‘Camilo’ was carrying nor the other armed men who accompanied him,” Pinedo commented.

The mayor confirmed his version that on April 2, 2023, while carrying out a campaign to collect signatures in the Vereda La Taguahe was taken to another place where he would be introduced to a supposed leader.

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There, he says he met the commander of the self-defense forces, who ordered his men to confiscate their cell phones and disarmed his escort. Subsequently, ‘Camilo’ He expressed his desire to submit, together with his group, to a peace negotiation process for which he requested his intermediation with the National Government.

Pinedo explained that, although he was not mistreated, he felt intimidated. When saying goodbye to him, ‘Camilo’ gave him a hug, which Pinedo stated he reciprocated because he felt completely helpless.

“I was surrounded by five men with rifles and he was carrying a machine gun. Who wouldn’t hug him? I was completely scared,” he explained.

The mayor claimed to have reported the episode immediately, highlighting that his life and that of his family were in danger.

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Pinedo expressed that he has no doubt that the manipulated images had the sole purpose of “damaging my political image.”

For this reason, Carlos Pinedo requested an exhaustive investigation to identify who exactly gave the photographs to Citizen Force, accusing this group of a plot against him.

Pinedo insists that the intention is to show a scene in an irregular manner to discredit him and deal a political blow.

For her part, Ingrid Aguirre, representative of the Chamber for Magdalena and spokesperson for Fuerza Ciudadana, rejected Pinedo’s accusations, ensuring that the political group found out about the photographs through the media and X’s account. President Gustavo Petro.

In dialogue with EL TIEMPO, Aguirre also recalled that they had previously reported that Pinedo was following in his brother’s footsteps, Miguel Pinedo Vidal, convicted of parapolitics and for his relationship with the former paramilitary chief Hernán Giraldo Serna.
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“Now Mr. Carlos Pinedo maintains those same ties with the descendants of Giraldo Serna who now command the Los Pachencas criminal organization,” said the representative.

Aguirre added that “the mayor is not able to defend his good name due to his criminal environment.”

He pointed out the defense of Fuerza Ciudadana, pointing out that the mayor has a lot to explain to the authorities, taking into account that according to what was reported by a national media, there were several meetings he had with the members of the criminal organization. The Pachencas.

Governor Rafael Martínez also spoke out, indicating that the evidentiary material against Pinedo is not held by Fuerza Ciudadana but by the Prosecutor’s Officewhich investigates his relationships with drug trafficking groups.

Martínez lamented that while extortion increased in the city, the mayor met with criminals in La Tagua and “hugged with the person who ordered the collection of fees from merchants.”

For Martínez, the increase in extortion and crimes in Santa Marta during the Pinedo government could correspond to an agreed agenda with Los Pachencas, who had lost their power 12 years ago with the arrival of the Caicedismo governments.

“It is not a setup by us, by our political group, they are reports that the authorities have and it is the reality that the entire city already knows,” the governor said.
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By Roger Urieles
For EL TIEMPO Santa Marta
In X: @rogeruv