He Spanish businessman Xavier Vendrellclose to the President Gustavo Petrois being accused of ‘amassing’ a fortune in the country, in addition to having obtained Colombian nationality without having complied with all the legal parametersaccording to an investigation by the media ‘ABC’.
According to the same media, Vendrell’s businesses in the country total assets of more than 500 million euros (more than 2.2 billion pesos). Likewise, the contracts are linked to waste management in some cities in the country through the company Temac Colombia SASin which the Spanish businessman is one of its most visible heads.
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‘ABC’ assures that Vendrell is being investigated by the Spanish authorities in the framework of the Operation Volhovin a case related to the financing of activities in favor of independence movements in the autonomous community of Catalonia.
Regarding the above, after the accusations, President Petro referred to Vendrell on his social networks: “Is a businessman bad because he is a friend of Petro?“.
Gustavo Petro and Xavier Vendrell
Private file
The head of state also questioned: “Has Xavier Vendrell stolen a peso from the national budget or does he have contracts with the national government?“, adding that “They only denounce him because Xavier is from Esquerra Republicana, a legal party in Spain, which fights for an independent Catalonia, a conflict in which we do not intervene.“.
Vendrell is also mentioned in an investigation carried out by the General Information Office of the Spanish Policeknown as Operation Troy, which investigates alleged interference from Russia in the financing of the Catalan independence movement.
The words of the businessman
After the allegations recorded by ‘ABC’, in the article ‘The Tsunami brain amasses a fortune in Gustavo Petro’s Colombia’, Vendrell gave statements to the radio station ‘W Radio’, in the Coronell Report, and responded that His relationship with President Petro began in October 2011 when the current president was the elected mayor of Bogotá..
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“We were introduced by a mutual friend. He’s not a public figure. He’s not important. He’s inconsequential.“Vendrell recalled. He said that the person may have thought that they might have an affinity for political positions.From there a friendship arose“, he said.
The Spanish businessman, who was an advisor to the Petro Presidente campaign, preferred not to give details about the person who linked them, But he pointed out that this is a person who has no political responsibility whatsoever..
Ricardo Roa, president of Ecopetrol
Andesco
Regarding his role in the president’s campaign, Vendrell, naturalized Colombianresponded that his job consisted of organizing electoral witnesses in Colombia.We won the elections by avoiding vote buying. It is a good way for things to work and for democracy to give the result it has to give. I played a role in organizing the electoral witnesses. I am satisfied with the work that was done.“he told ‘W Radio’.
Vendrell also assured that I never managed a peso in Petro’s presidential campaign and stated that his work was paid for by a company that had a contract with those in charge of the organization that was in charge of the campaign.
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“I received payment for the work. I was paid by a company that had a contract with the campaign. The payment I received was 100 million pesos for the 20 months I worked on the campaign.“, said the Spanish businessman.
In the middle of the interview, He stated that he has no business with the former manager of Pero’s campaign and current president of Ecopetrol, Ricardo RoaHe also denied relations with Jorge Carrillowho has been the subject of controversy after being elected manager of ISA.
Jorge Andrés Carrillo, former general manager of the EPM group.
Reports of multimillion-dollar contracts
Regarding the millionaire businesses reported by the Spanish press in Colombia, Vendrell said that he is a personal friend of the Catalan Manuel Grauwith whom he was a partner Temaca company that is believed to be behind waste contracts in twelve cities across the country.
“Seven years ago I left Temac (…). Today I have nothing to do with the companies that have been publicly known to have these famous contracts. I have nothing to do with that company. It is not true that they have had all those contracts.“Vendrell said.
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In one hundred to the documents held by the authorities of your country of origin which are targeting businesses worth around 500 million eurosthe Catalan assured that these were budgets for projects in various cities, such as Lima, Buenos Aires and Rosariobut they never happened.
Catalonia
EFE
“They just didn’t happen. We were talking about building student residences, but they just didn’t happen. That an Excel spreadsheet talks about projects that add up to 500 million dollars and that one of them is finally developed is a huge gap.“, he noted.
He also noted that his economy is closer to Datacredit. “We are not millionaires and this is a setup to try to overthrow a democratic project“He said, referring to the Catalan independence process, in which he has been involved for many years.
The controversy over his Colombian citizenship
In relation to the allegations of an ‘express’ procedure for the processing of the Colombian passport, the Spanish businessman responded that he has been working in the country for 13 years and is a “in love” of the country.
In fact, he mentioned that one of the projects that he most “they are passionate” is the agrarian reform and that works with the Campo Digno Foundationwhich covers its fees, mentioning that it deals with the connections of small producers with large buyers in the world.
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“That’s why I think it’s important to introduce myself to the Colombian world. I love this country.“, he told ‘W Radio’. He also denied that he requested a diplomatic passport from the Foreign Ministry and any ties to foreign companies interested in the passport business..
In the interview, Vendrell was asked about the investigations in his country, and added that they are montages that have been archived: “It’s all part of a setup. I’m neither a millionaire nor a terrorist.”.
PORTFOLIO
*With information from EL TIEMPO – LATEST NEWS and W RADIO
