EL COLOMBIANO revealed that more than 30 escorts left presidential security and were removed from their posts in mid-June, after Colonel Carlos Feria, head of presidential protection (investigated by the Marelbys Meza case) He asked the National Protection Unit for the change.
The story has to do with a complaint that the bodyguards filed with the Attorney General’s Office for possible overstepping of the Fair’s functions, after this He asked Augusto Rodríguez for his replacement.
However, it was not just a “rotation” as the UNP published in an initial statement, After it was learned that the change corresponded essentially to the schemes of Verónica Alcocer and Laura Sarabia.
In context: Exclusive | The bodyguards assigned to Verónica Alcocer were not replaced: they were fired
In fact, to all the bodyguards who left the Presidency at one moment or another, They say, without justification, they were expelled from their positions when they could have been assigned to other schemes.
This newspaper contacted the Presidency, where they responded that the movements in the schemes were confidential for the security of the presidential nucleus. Also to the UNP, where the response was different.
Its director, Augusto Rodríguez, wrote an intimidating message in which he warned that complaints could be filed if such information, which was of public interest, was revealed. And it was precisely when they went to the Attorney General’s Office that the bodyguards stated that Her ‘unjustified’ departure was related to the distrust of the First Lady’s entourage towards the UNP.
In the complaint, the former bodyguards, who accompanied the security of President Gustavo Petro since he was a senator, They are asking the Attorney General’s Office to investigate possible surveillance and violations of their communications.
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For security reasons, the number of escorts for the presidential family was not revealed, so It is not known whether the more than 30 who left are all or just some of the team of agents that protects those closest to the president.
Most of them were thrown out and Only a handful remain in the entity because they have union immunity.
The UNP’s initial response was aimed at explaining the hiring models of former officials, which is through work contracts. “The bodyguards are provided by the UT companies. When they are rotated they return to those companies, that assign them to other schemes, according to the requests that the UNP is making. Meanwhile, the UNP provides the protection people that the Headquarters made the same request.”
The division in the Palace
The change of the more than 30 bodyguards also occurred at a key moment within the Palace, where there has been an evident distancing between the first lady, Laura Sarabia’s team and director Rodríguez along with other officials from government entities who are from the president’s first circle.
This division was not confirmed only by the bodyguards themselves, who argue that The reason for his departure is in that so-called friendly fire, but also confirmed to EL COLOMBIANO four independent sources within the Presidency.
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The complaint by the first lady, Verónica Alcocer, for an alleged defamation strategy against her to link her to the scandal of the National Risk Management Unit (UNGRD), indicates that Behind the alleged chats that mention her are officials within the Government.
There he assured that he has all the evidence and that his legal team will deliver it to the authorities.. Rodríguez denied the division and said that it is an attempt by third parties to divide the Government from the outside.
However, this newspaper was able to learn that Rodríguez He approached the president a few weeks ago to bring him information that seemed relevant to him and, after that, there was initial annoyance from Sarabia and Alcocer.
In the complaint to the Attorney General’s Office, the escorts also ask to investigate what they consider to be excesses in some tolls and vehicle expenses that they were responsible for paying directly.
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