Paloma Valencia talks about the video in which Petro receives money – Congress – Politics

Senator Paloma Valencia said on Wednesday that the video she had revealed at the Senate's plenary session Tuesday night – in which Senator Gustavo Petro seems to be receiving bundles of notes – was delivered the same evening and that it was not until the night of the day. she had decided to make it public because she was very impressed to see the former mayor in this situation.

Why did you reveal Gustavo Petro's video in the debate?

The video is in my hands in the middle of the debate. That impressed me a lot. The first thing I asked myself was whether it was authentic or not. Because of the seriousness of what is evident in the images, I decided to publish it, because you see that Senator Gustavo Petro receives a very large sum of money, very large bundles of bills that, barely, another Colombian saw in person. It is an extremely rare and suspicious video and, therefore, we have decided not only to present it to the public, but also to file it with a letter to the Office of the Prosecutor.

What information do you have from the video?

I do not have more information than what is in this video. I do not know if it is Juan Carlos Montes (who delivers the money), known for the tapahuecos machine.

Do you have a hypothesis about when it could have happened?

I do not have any. I think that because of the seriousness of what is going on there and what could still happen, I had to entrust it to justice.

Juan Carlos Montes is it supposed to be the one that appears in the video?

It is badumed that it is he who appears there. I could not say because I do not know him.

Did you put that in the hands of the prosecutor's office because you suspect that there might be criminal profiles in this action?

Obviously, there is something very suspicious. As a public servant, I have an obligation to report the crimes that have been committed to me, and possibly there could be one there.

Is it normal in a political activity to manage large sums of money, as this video shows?

I had heard about it: there are politicians who receive a bundle of money and who then buy voices. In my party, we did not have these procedures and all donations received at the Democratic Center arrive by check, no money is received.

"This money was a loan"

Senator Gustavo Petro badured that the presentation of the video was a "strategy" to "undermine" the debate on political control. In addition, he explained that this money was a "loan" that Simón Vélez had made for the Pole's presidential campaign in 2006. Petro said that he "had not finally made any decision regarding the resources entering this society limited to politics.However, lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella said Wednesday that he would denounce the senator because "the video was recorded in 2009 and that the money came from" Loco Barrera "".

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