On April 25, Mayor Johana Aranda, and the manager of Ibagué Clean, Milton Restrepo, showed the sculpture that from that day would be located in the fifth race with 42nd street. Act that was part of the inauguration of the Olympic pools of the 42 sports unit.
In the words of the officials, the figure of the Lent Águila intended to symbolize “the rebirth” of Ibagué thanks to the reconstruction of their sports scenarios, demolished by the embezzlement of the National Games 2025.
However, less than a week later, during the march of the International Labor Day on Thursday, May 1, the base of the figure appeared graffiti. Messages like “Aranda and Hurtado Rats thieves”, in allusion to the mayor and her political mentor, former mayor Andrés Hurtado. Or, also, “Santiago did not die, he was killed,” in reference to the young man allegedly murdered by a police officer during the 2021 social outbreak in Ibagué.
This episode aroused the outrage of the manager of Ibagué Clean, who offered up to $ 20 million for information about those who painted graffiti. He called them “criminals” and threatened to send them to jail, which a part of the citizens considered a disproportionate measure.
Nevertheless, This controversy served to know that the creator of the controversial eagle is Leonardo Fajardo Urueñawho turned out to be the husband of Carolina Hurtado, candidate for the House of Representatives and sister of the former mayor of Ibagué.
Fajardo Urueña is born in Ambalema, but raised in Lleida, the native municipality of Los Hurtado. He is an ex officio painter and sculptor. Since the period of his brother -in -law as mayor of the Tolimense capital, he became the head of Ibagué clean.
THE CHRONISTA.CO He was able to establish that the controversy ‘eagle that rises flight’ is only one of the various sculptures that Ibagué clean has paid the former mayor. Among them are also ‘the flutist’, installed on the bridge of the success of 80th Street in 2023. Or also other guitar figures that appear in roundabouts or parks of Ibagué.
All sculptures, Ibagué clean would have hired them with Fajardo Urueña since the government period of her brother -in -law. Doing it through Clean Ibagué, for their status as a mixed company with a majority of private participation, allows them to evade any possibility of complaints against them for conflict of interest or influence peddling.
However, in social media comments some cybernautas have complained about the lack of calls or consultations to citizens to decide on the sculptures that will be installed in Ibagué.
“Where is the permission to place the mamarracho of the eagle of the swimming pools and how they have cultural representation for Ibagué? That was not arranged with the citizens but imposed by the ‘roscogram’ politiqueros that does what comes to him with half a million inhabitants,” said Henry Cortés, one of the cybernauts.
The secrecy with which Ibagué clean manages his information made it difficult to access the way of payment or hiring of the sculptor Leonardo Fajardo Urueña. Hermeticism that even
Ibagué Council has cost you to overcome, having to go to legal actions such as guardianship to know information about the entity-company.
At the moment, the truth is that in Ibagué until art has been co -opted by the Hurtado and its closest circle. The advantage that the last name Hurtado or being close to the family is publicly represented, at the time of accessing work and professionals. The wife, children, brothers, cousins, brothers -in -law and other relatives of the former mayor abound the job opportunities paid with the treasury.
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