They ask for the resignation of the new director of the SAE, reported for sexual harassment

The ombudsman of Colombia, Iris Marín, asked this Sunday for the resignation of the new and recently appointed director of the Special Assets Society (SAE, which manages assets seized from drug trafficking and crime), Diego Cancino, after a sexual harassment complaint against him became known.

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An advisor to the Ministry of the Interior, Viviana Vargas, denounced Cancino for touching him and attempting to assault him when he went to ask him for a job and the former Bogotá councilor invited him to his house for lunch.

At home, Cancino hugged her and touched her breasts on several occasions, without the 31-year-old’s consent, and even tried to kiss her, despite Vargas’ denial, according to what the young woman told Cambio Magazine.

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days later, The appointed president of the SAE was calling her and trying to contact her by phone, while she explained that she had felt uncomfortable with his behavior and pointed out that she only wanted a working relationship with the politician..

The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, appointed this week Cancino, who until now was number two in the Ministry of the Interior, as head of the SAE.

“Inadmissible. The Prosecutor’s Office has evidence to advance the investigation. Meanwhile, Diego Cancino must resign and the Government must demand it from him.”Marín said in a message on his X account.

The Minister of the Interior, Juan Fernando Cristo, has also supported the victim, ensuring that they reject “strongly any form of gender violence and abuse of power”: “We cannot allow these behaviors to have a place in our institutions. We must guarantee spaces and mechanisms so that victims can report this type of behavior safely.”he said in a message this Sunday on his X account.

Petro himself called for the “immediate” resignation of the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), César Lorduy, after a complaint of sexual harassment by congresswoman Ingrid Aguirre became known.

In that complaint, presented to the Prosecutor’s Office on October 19 of last year, Lorduy, of the Cambio Radical party, would have requested millions of pesos in exchange for having facilitated the legal status of Fuerza Ciudadana for the last regional elections.

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In a meeting in September 2023, Lorduy again requested the money from the congresswoman, and a few days later, according to Aguirre, the president of the CNE made sexual advances to her by asking that if they did not give him the money, the woman could “repay the favor in another way”.

EFE