The husband of murdered Sumapaz councillor Maria Fanny Torres, announced that he was not convinced that FARC guerrillas were behind the crime and that it could have been committed by corrupt Colombian authorities.
According to Torres’ husband, on Saturday October 17, the day before Torres and councillor Fernando Morales were murdered in a town north of Bogota, Torres had expressed concern about allegations against another councillor from the same party, German Morales Rey.
These allegations revealed supposed irregular operations regarding the manner in which local politicians were distributing resources in the area.
“On Saturday [my wife] told me: I am afraid, we put it to Morales Rey to voice allegations about resources that are being corruptly invested,” claimed the husband Miguel Chavarro in a report by newspaper El Espectador on Tuesday.
“I do not rule out that the FARC are responsible … but it would be strange … because both councillors had always worked for the community,” Chavarro continued, “in the town there are resentful political hooligans who envy the elected councillors.”
Chavarro also contradicted certain claims by authorities, maintaining that despite the known dangers, the councillors never had sufficient security protection.
Carlos Remolina, President of the Association of Colombian Mayors, stated that investigations into corruption claims made by town councillors is something that the authorities must deal with, and that the Prosecution should determine whether there truly are serious threats being made amongst the councillors.
Federal authorities say the FARC is responsible for the attack and offer a 50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.
There have been 10 town councillors murdered across Colombia this year and 400 have been killed over the last decade.