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Six congressmen from the Democratic Party called this Thursday to open an investigation into USA against the Colombian presidential candidate Rodolfo Hernandez for possible corruption.
In a letter addressed to the President joe goodand which was copied to the Secretary of State Anthony Blinkento the attorney general Merrick Garland and the Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellenthe legislators, who represent the most liberal wing of this community, refer to the judicial process that exists against Hernandez in Colombia for the award of a contract for garbage collection when he was mayor of Bucaramanga.
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The congressmen suggest that the US could have jurisdiction in the case, since In that same period, Hernández’s family would have bought properties in the State of Florida for more than a million dollars..
“These facts, if nothing else, raise serious questions about Hernández’s commitment to fighting corruption. The accusations remind us of the revelations that the then candidate for the presidency of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, had 144 properties in Broward and Miami Dade counties in Florida. After the election, the Pandora Papers revealed that President Lasso had been hiding assets and avoiding paying taxes under US jurisdiction for years. The legal case against Hernández has the potential to be another example of the use of US jurisdiction to evade taxes or hide illicitly obtained resources.”They say in the letter.
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And then they add: “Therefore, We ask your administration to urgently look at this case and consider that relevant agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Treasury, carry out an investigation into these matters to ensure that the people of Colombia and the United States are well informed about any illegal or corrupt act involving Hernandez or his family”.
The letter is signed by Raúl Grijalva, Rashida Tlaib, Jesús García, David Cicilline, Jan Shachowsky and Pramilia Jayapal. Several of these same legislators had sent another letter two weeks ago expressing their concern about the threats that the Historical Pact candidate, Gustavo Petro, had been receiving.
This last letter, however, has the potential to be seen as an intervention in the politics of another country and is reminiscent of the controversy that broke out in 2020 when several Colombian legislators were accused of intervening in the US elections. for openly expressing his favoritism for Donald Trump.
Although the US legislators do not take sides on this occasion, the sending of a letter three days before the elections requesting a judicial investigation against one of the two candidates for the Presidency could have a similar reading.
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
