Colombian Official Accuses Politicians of Corruption in Explosive Interview

A former official in Colombia has accused several government officials of corruption in an explosive interview on Friday. Snyder Pinilla, who was the deputy director of UNGRD until March 6, revealed that he used money from the state National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) to pay bribes to the president of the Senate, Iván Name, and the president of the House of Representatives, Andrés Calle, in order to get social reforms approved in Congress.

The complaint has caused a stir in the country as it not only implicates the legislative presidents but also affects the government of Colombian president, Gustavo Petro. Pinilla claims that he used 3,000 million pesos to pay Name and 1,000 million pesos to Calle to support health, pension, and labor reforms. The money was reportedly given by a contractor who was commissioned by the government to purchase tanker trucks, which turned out to be a failed project due to technical issues with the vehicles.

Pinilla has also implicated other government officials in the corruption network, including the former director of UNGRD, the Minister of the Interior