‘The Colombian Government could be more determined against corruption’

Colombian senator Iván Cepeda, of the ruling Historical Pact, is not surprised that corruption has reached a Government that promised to be impeccable, because he believes that it is “systemic” in Colombia, but still considers that there could be more forceful actions against this scourge.

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“We have big problems, and the first of them is corruption in the State and within the Government itself, and that is a problem that must be addressed with decisions, not with excuses, not with pointing out responsibility to others in the past, but to what has happened in this Government”, says Cepeda, who has been in Congress for more than a decade, almost always in the opposition.

Corruption has spread to the Government of Gustavo Petro with accusations of embezzlement of funds in the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) during the management of Olmedo López, the previous director, appointed by the president himself.

Petro forced the resignation of López, who is under investigation, and in that sense Cepeda considers that “We must continue to purify the Government of anyone who engages in these practices.”

“Corruption is systemic in Colombia; it is a problem that has a deep structural character,” Explain. It has seeped into politics and turned it “in a kind of constant trade, not only of perks, but also of public positions and institutions.”

But this “It does not change overnight and obviously it is not enough to be aware of it, decisions must be made and preventive mechanisms and antibodies against corruption must be generated,” adds Cepeda, who believes that “within the Government itself, more decisive action may have been lacking.”

Cepeda “I feared”, the day that the left achieved the highest numbers in both chambers, that promoting Petro’s reform agenda was going to be a “obstacle race”.

There have been victories, such as the tax reform, the National Development Plan or the pension reform, approved last week, that “they have a seal of social equity and imply serious reforms in the country,” but also defeats and a lot of criticism.

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However, he points out that there is beginning to be “a change in political culture, to show that it can be reformed, that it is possible through democratic deliberation to reach certain new rules of the game.”

In the two years left until the next elections, the task is in “a relentless fight against corruption”; in maintaining “faithful to the program” and therefore at “organizations and the social movement”; in “a national agreement” and also focusing on execution.

A veiled criticism emerges from his speech to the Executive branch, which is the one that has to make the laws impact the people.

And also a self-criticism of the laws or decrees that have been overturned by judicial bodies, such as the Constitutional Court, for “legal formalisms.”

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“I believe that there is a mixture of inexperience and difficulties that have created the Kafkaesque legal and bureaucratic tangle that exists in Colombia, but there is also a need for will and to apply oneself effectively to the tasks,” says Cepeda, who appeals to the Court “to listen to the needs that the country has today.”

Recover that first essence of the Government, That of coalition with sectors of traditional politics is the desire of this politician convinced of dialogue, although he sees the opposition far from these intentions and in electoral mode.

“I deeply believe in the need for there to be an agreement in Colombia between all political and social sectors to achieve peace,” says Cepeda, also a member of the Government’s negotiating team with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla.

And that national agreement It is necessary in the face of a Constituent Assembly, an idea outlined by Petro who later, in the face of numerous criticisms, has transformed into talking about a “process” constituent where society takes over politics.

“What I understand, interpret – and I would say I am certain – is that the president is referring to a process more than a Constituent Assembly; a process in which citizens have greater influence and ensure that the Constitution is fulfilled” , Explain.

But that process “without having a national agreement it is impossible,” adds the senator.

EFE