From the start, this ‘Nanny Gate’ or scandal involving nanny Marelbys Meza began to bear a remarkable resemblance not only to the 8,000 process that several media outlets sensibly compared, but also to the procedures of the mob. I will only refer to 2 or 3 very relevant coincidences starting with since there has already been a death.
Both scandals begin with illegal recordings. And just as the righteousness of 8,000 people has been confirmed by witnesses, their righteousness has also been proved by them.
There was a very resentful protagonist who felt left alone during the 8:00 o’clock process: Santiago Medina, the campaign’s treasurer. Concerned Minister Serpa found Ernesto Amézquita, a lawyer whom he trusted. With this support, Medina began to deny everything. Realizing that Amézquita’s interests were not his own, but the Government’s, he decided to change that, and the whole truth came out. But the government had time to prepare its defence: In due course, the investigation containing the facts against Medina was leaked to Serpa, who did not sneak under his door as he lied at the time, but was handed over by then lawyer Orlando Vásquez Velásquez. According to attorney sources. The statement was the product of an embarrassing press conference of the period.
It is the late Colonel Óscar Dávila of “Medina”, on whom all the blame for this second story will fall. His closest boss, the head of the Palacio Military House, and Colonel Carlos Feria, whom Petro trusted so much, not only collected 100 million pesos for Dávila to hire a lawyer, but also stated exactly which one: the “lawyer of the regime”. But like Medina, Dávila soon suspected that she was more interested in protecting the government than her client. When strong pressure from various sources left him helpless, he apparently considered replacing her and cooperating with the Prosecutor until the very end of his own suicide. Why did the “regime’s lawyer” conceal the fact that he had demanded 50 million fees from the humble police colonel, while stigmatizing the Prosecutor’s Office and the journalists as the “triggers” of Dávila’s death? But when he just found out that he had died, he went out to return the 50 million to his widow. Officers of Dávila’s rank earn no more than ten million pesos a month. Where did the 100 million donated for Feria’s defense come from? Can the institution itself have a special budget to pay the “regime lawyer” who defends in unlawful proceedings?
Laura Sarabia becomes the Fernando Botero of this story. If he had spoken at the time and told the truth, Samper would have fallen, instead of saying that Samper knew everything but Botero didn’t. The lie saved him. Will Laura Sarabia be willing to speak out so she can raise her one-year-old son (‘recently born’, says Petro) instead of facing several years in prison for crimes such as illegal enrichment, abuse of power, and conspiracy? commit a crime?
For now, what has happened to Laura is the same as to Colonel Feria, head of the Military Department: they adore Peter and believe he will save them. Santiago Medina of Samper’s team believed the same. Therefore, it is too early to know whether they will both be telling the truth. And most importantly, uncover the true source and true amount of money lost in Laura Sarabia’s home. Or will they choose to remain silent and hand themselves over to the “regime lawyer”, a defender of justice, for who knows how?
Finally, what was disclosed to ‘Semana’ by an unidentified witness on the serious charge of circulating and stolen silver where Laura Sarabia is worth 3,000 million and belonging to Gustavo Petro deserves analysis. Assuming that the publication of ‘Semana’, which is a serious and prestigious medium, is sufficiently supported, the Prosecutor’s Office now needs to compare this volcanic information. What can happen if this is confirmed? That the road against a president would perhaps take a really serious course before the House Impeachment Committee for the first time.
Samper was able to buy all this through the notorious “research agent” Heyne Sorge Mogollón, for whom Chimá, the municipality of origin, received millions of food as payment. However, economic groups, media and political parties were on Samper’s side. On the other hand, although many things have been accomplished along the way, Petro is not so sure that he has this support… even blackmail.
Unfortunately for this country, everything points to such sinister forces at work in this government that, frankly, we are almost allowed to speak of our own ‘cosa nostra’: is a regime using mafia procedures ruling us?
MARIA ISABEL RUEDA
(Read all of María Isabel Rueda’s columns on EL TIEMPO here)
Source: Exame
