Colombian media on Monday reported widely on a billboard criticizing the family of former President Alvaro Uribe, which later proved to be be an internet hoax.
The websites of established news outlets like Caracol Radio and Radio Santa Fe picked up on a trend on social media websites where images circulated criticizing the alleged corruption of the Uribe family. The image, which appeared to show a new billboard comparing the sons of ex-President Alvaro Uribe with members from the ‘Nule group’, a consortium of businessmen convicted of embezzling millions of dollars of public funds in Bogota, was later revealed to be a photo shopped version of a previous billboard.
The government of the city of Medellin — where the billboards allegedly had been placed — reacted quickly to the reports, saying that a committee had been dispatched to try and discover the sign’s whereabouts within the city, which, unsurprisingly, they never did.
The controversial billboard scandal has been going on since former vice president and potential 2014 presidential candidate Francisco Santos sponsored the production and display of an advertising campaign comparing rebel group FARC leader, alias “Ivan Marquez” to deceased drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in Colombia’s second city, Medellin.
MORE: Billboards comparing FARC to Pablo Escobar stir anger
The FARC shortly responded with an internet ‘billboard’ of their own, calling attention to a criminal investigation linking Santos to the creation of paramilitary ‘death squads’ in Bogota.
MORE: Colombia’s former vice-president ‘can go to hell’: FARC
Sources
- Publican valla comparando a hijos del expresidente Uribe con cabecillas del grupo Nule (Radio Santa Fe)
- Valla contra los hijos del expresidente Uribe es falsa (LA FM)