Colombia’s acting foreign minister to stay on until August
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro extended the term of acting Foreign Minister Luis Murillo after the Inspector General’s Office extended the term of suspension of Alvaro Leyva.
In a decree, Petro extended Murillo’s term until August 8 in order to ‘guarantee the compliance and the continuity of services of the Ministry of Foreign Relations.”
Murillo, who formally is Colombia’s ambassador to Washington DC, replaced Leyva in February amid an Inspector General investigation into alleged irregularities in the Foreign Ministry.
According to the Inspector General’s Office, Leyva could sabotage the investigation into his decision to revoke a $152 million (COP600 billion) contract to provide passports.
Petro and the foreign ministry have claimed that evidence suggests that this contract was granted to the firm Thomas Gregs & Sons through corruption.
Inspector General Margarita Cabello, however, has claimed that Leyva did not have the legal authority to revoke the contract and open a new bidding process.
Cabello’s office initially suspended the foreign minister for a period of three months to investigate its allegations.
This period was apparently too short to produce the evidence that would allow the Inspector General’s Office to either permanently remove Leyva from office or absolve him of the charges.
Petro has repeatedly suggested that the actions of Cabello, a conservative politician, are part of a far-right “lawfare” campaign that seeks to sabotage his administration.
The post Colombia’s acting foreign minister to stay on until August appeared first on Colombia News | Colombia Reports.