A Bogota councillor accused Mayor Gustavo Petro of “nepotism and cronyism” Friday, referring to his newest additions to the city’s government, reported daily El Espectador.
Javier Palacio said ex-guerrilla and former senator Petro had taken “advantage of his position as head of the Administration to practice exactly what he criticizes, nepotism and cronyism.”
The appointments in question are:
- Eduardo Noriega de la Hoz, the Secretary General of the Mayor’s Office
husband of Catherine Velasco, to whom the mayor gave the job of Deputy Director of EEB, Bogota’s state-run electricity company. - Claudia Maria Valencia Gaitan, Bogota’s Housing Secretary
wife of the City Hall’s Director of International Relations. - Selma Asprilla, advisor to goverment secretary Antonio Navarro
sister of the director of the Special Administrative Unit of Public Service (UAESP).
Palacio called these appointments “questionable” and “troubling” and asked Petro to explain them because “what is at stake is a matter of ethics and morality in the District Administration.”
Petro won the Bogota elections in October last year fiercely criticizing the corruption and nepotism of hsi predecessor, the now jailed Samuel Moreno.