The assassination of Cucuta’s citizen ombudsman again put the spotlight on the corrupt political elite in the largest city on Colombia’s border with Venezuela.
An assassin took the life of Jaime Vasquez, on Sunday, ending his flurry of corruption allegations against the clique of Governor William Villamizar, which has been in power in Cucuta and the surrounding Norte de Santander province for decades.
The assassination triggered condemnation by the United Nations’ human rights office in Colombia, Reporters Without Borders and President Gustavo Petro.
The president asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate allegations that local law enforcement officials were manipulating Vasquez’s cellphone after the death of the citizen ombudsman.
The director of the National Police, General William Salamanca, sent 10 investigators of police intelligence agency DIJIN to Cucuta to investigate the assassination and the alleged irregularities in the initial investigation.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said it had also appointed officials to take part in the investigation.
Cucuta’s Mayor, Jorge Acevedo said that he and the Governor’s Office offered an $18,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest of those responsible for Vasquez’s assassination.
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Alleged political corruption
Over the past few years, Vasquez used his account on social media platform Facebook to present evidence of the alleged embezzlement of public funds by government contractors.
Among other things, the citizen ombudsman had reported the alleged corruption in the provision of school meals in Norte de Santander.
In one of his most recent posts, Vasquez accused the governor and an alleged business associate of embezzling money meant for public hospitals in border towns near Cucuta.
The citizen ombudsman had also reported the allegedly illegal privatization of tax collection.
According to the Inspector General’s Office, Villamizar is being investigated over alleged corruption in the provision of water to farmers in the region.
The Governor was suspended in 2011 over alleged corruption in the management of disaster funds and was suspended again in 2019 for allegedly granting a contract to provide English lessons to his own company.
In 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office accused Villamizar of having embezzled money from a program that sought to upgrade education in Norte de Santander.
None of these alleged corruption scandals led to criminal charges or political bans.
Norte de Santander’s ruling class
Villamizar and Cucuta Mayor Jorge Acevedo are political allies of jailed mafia boss Ramiro Suarez, who was elected mayor of Cucuta in 2004 after ordering the assassination of two rivals.
The former mayor was sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2011, but has remained a major force in Norte de Santander’s politics ever since.
According to the president, Suarez was behind an attempt to assassinate Petro while on campaign in Cucuta in 2018.
Villamizar and other regional politicians ended up in the limelight again in 2019 over an attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government with the help of the American government and regional drug traffickers.
Also these scandals were never taken to court.
Following Vasquez’s assassination, local journalists said it was too dangerous to publicly denounce corruption in the border region.