Colombia’s ambassador to Rome, Sabas Pretelt De La Vega, is chosen as executive director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP), embassy employees told Spanish press agency EFE.
According to the anonymous sources, the Colombian diplomat was unanimously selected by the Latin American and Caribbean members of the board of the WFP, whose turn it was to pick the executive director. Pretelt De La Vega is a member of this board.
The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a biannual budget of US$11.2 billion.
In Colombia, Pretelt De La Vega became controversial after the Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal investigation into the possible responsibility of the former minister for the bribery of congressmen in order to secure the 2006 re-election of President Alvaro Uribe. He has also been accused of alligning himself with paramilitary organization AUC.
The WFP did not confirm the election of Pretelt.
