Partido de la U secretary Luis Guillermo Giraldo resigned amid a
growing controversy concerning the finances of the referendum organized
by the coalition party to demand a third term for Colombian President
‘Alvaro Uribe.
The organizers, despite several calls by the Electoral Council to open the books, are unable or unwilling to clarify where the money to fund the referendum came from.
The referendum’s most generous donor, a mysterious foundation called Primero Colombia, has neglected to explain who it got the US$1 million donation. The legal representative of the “non-profit foundation” twice ignored calls by the council to appear and clarify his foundation’s financial records.
The popular vote came under scrutiny after news broke that the logistics of the referendum was sponsored by a daughter of DMG, the company that’s been forced to close its doors and is investigated by the Prosecution for the alleged laundering of drug money.
The referendum, Uribe’s only change to stay or return to office, may be considered illegal if the organizing body can not explain how it was financed.