“I have called the national prosecutor and sent messages, but I have not received an answer,” the man repeated angrily. Florida Mayor Rodolfo Carter on Wednesday, March 23, after it was learned that the Public Ministry had ordered the opening of an investigation against Oriente prosecutor, Ernesto Navarro, for having shared information about legal cases associated with drug traffickers in the commune for the demolition of the houses associated with those who are formalized in this type of research.
Carter’s annoyance was towards the national prosecutor, Ángel Valenciabecause after the media demolition of a house in the Los Quillayes population, in Florida, the persecutor, first, had assessed the measure, and then, supported the opening of a summary against the prosecutor who provided the information to execute the measure .
This earned both authorities a “round”, where Carter even warned a “shot in the back” by prosecutor Valencia, by supporting the opening of a summary against prosecutor Oriente. However, the national prosecutor always tried to appease the spirits, even ordered the creation of a protocol to regulate the delivery of information to the municipalities.
“Prosecutors are going to continue sharing information with the municipalities to account for the work we do and transmit it to the community (…). The detail of that information -shared in the email to Carter- has to be governed by what is established by our laws and our internal regulations, ”Valencia said on Thursday, March 23.
For this reason, in order to bring positions closer together and set limits on the delivery of information from the Prosecutor’s Office to the municipalities, Carter will meet with the national prosecutor at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, March 27.
The appointment was requested on Thursday, March 23 by the mayor of La Florida himself, who -via official letter- requested the appointment. “Through this official communication, I come to request that you grant, as soon as possible, an institutional hearing, in which we can know your vision and definitions on the coordination that the Public Ministry and the Municipality of Florida they must maintain to develop the work related to the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking, ”Carter began exposing in the document.
In addition, the document that Valencia received states that “specifically, and given the facts of public knowledge and high social connotation, also andI am interested in knowing your analysis on the demolition of drug trafficking coves that our municipality has been promoting since January of this year, within the framework of the Neighborhood Recovery Policy of our commune”.
The interest of both authorities is to settle the controversy and advance collaborative institutional work. In any case, Valencia could make the mayor see how untimely it was to have shown the mail between the municipality and the prosecutor Navarro, since this fact -according to the National Association of Prosecutors- “exposed” the investigator in a tremendously delicate matter, such as the pursuit of drug trafficking.
That is why the appointment will be key to define How will the communication between the municipality and the Public Ministry be?where Valencia has not been opposed to the measure, as long as it is supported by the regulations that empower the municipality to do so, and where official channels are established to exchange information.
The demolition of the so-called “narco houses” is something that Carter has warned that they will continue to carry out, since he has a list of about twenty homes associated with formalized for drug traffickingalready in folder for demolition.
