A key member of President Gustavo Petro’s government in Colombia has resigned, amid the latest corruption scandal to rock the administration.
Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla stepped down from his office on Wednesday, though he remained defiant in the face of accusations that he diverted funds from Colombia’s disaster relief agency and bought votes on a congressional committee involved with government finances.
“I leave with my head held high, confident that I will convince my investigators that I did not buy silence nor votes from congressmen,” Bonilla wrote on social media.
He denied committing any crimes. “The defence I am undertaking with my legal team is supported by truth and transparency.”
President Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, has weathered a string of scandals and legislative setbacks since taking office in 2022. But he stood by Bonilla, even as he accepted the minister’s resignation.
“I know that the accusation against Bonilla is unfair,” Petro wrote in one of two lengthy missives on social media, describing Bonilla as a “true economist, committed to the necessities of his people”.
But, Petro added: “politics and law continued to be based on corruption” in Colombia.
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Petro quickly replaced Bonilla with his vice minister of finance, Diego Guevara, on Wednesday afternoon.
Bonilla was the second finance minister to exit Petro’s government. He took over for Jose Antonio Ocampo in 2023, after Petro abruptly reshuffled his cabinet.
The scandal that brought Bonilla down emerged earlier this year when the public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into hefty contracts for the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, or UNGRD.
Some purchases allegedly involved $10.5m contracts for defective water tankers destined for the province of La Guajira, where residents struggle to access potable water.
The former head of UNGRD was accused of influence peddling, in a scandal that grew to include Bonilla himself.
Colombia’s Supreme Court has since indicated its investigation hinges on alleged “crimes of bribery and possible illicit enrichment”.
The former deputy director of UNGRD, Sneyder Pinilla — who himself is under investigation — has since become a cooperating witness. His lawyers have said he provided evidence of a “criminal structure” linking UNGRD to high-ranking federal officials.
But Petro has largely rejected accusations of corruption within his government.
BBC.com
