The Chancellery reported this Thursday that it opened a disciplinary investigation into Consul of Colombia in Mexico, Andrés Hernándezclose to President Gustavo Petroinvolved in a scandal for alleged fraud, workplace harassment, negligence and misogyny.
“The Office of Internal Control of the Foreign Ministry is carrying out a disciplinary investigation process to establish responsibilities and alleged faults on the part of the Consul of Colombia in Mexico City for the facts publicly known in recent days.“, the Foreign Ministry reported this Thursday.
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The official was Petro’s press chief for many years and is part of the closest circle of the Colombian head of state, who reinstated him to that position last Augustdespite the fact that the Council of State annulled his appointment because he did not meet the necessary requirements to occupy it.
Andrés Hernández, consul of Colombia in Mexico.
The Foreign Ministry explained this Thursday in a statement that “has required the official to give the corresponding explanations for the complaints and alleged misconduct that have been committed in the situations in which he has been involved and which the media have recently revealed.“.
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Likewise, they asked the official “the reimbursement of the resources allocated to the hiring of a human rights specialist, because said hiring was carried out without the prior authorization of the entity“.
Hernández hired a human rights professional without prior authorization for an amount of $12,700as reported in an investigation published by ‘El País’, which was the one who uncovered the consul’s case.
Chancellery
The scandals
Hernández was the communications director of Petro’s campaign in 2017-2018 and his press chief in the Senate until 2022.. The Colombian president appointed him Colombian consul in Mexico in February 2023, despite the fact that he did not have any diplomatic experience.
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An investigation by the newspaper ‘El País’ revealed that Hernández has a debt with the Foreign Ministry for $12,700 and a complaint in Mexico for an alleged scama complaint filed by a former consulate worker, who claims that the official owes her $19,000.
According to that newspaper, Sonia Cuesta, Hernández’s subordinate between February and August 2023, The 19,000 dollars that the diplomat owes him correspond to the savings he made in Mexico throughout his working life. and that he was going to use them when he retired from work.
Mexico and Colombia
Cuesta told ‘El País’ that when he finished his job in Mexico, in August 2023, he was going to close the savings account that he had in his name in that country.
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To do so, he had to transfer the money he had in it to an account in Colombia. Since he didn’t have one, Hernández offered him his account in the country to do it, to which he ended up making two consignments for 15,000 and 9,564 dollars, respectively..
When Cuesta returned to Colombia he asked Hernández for his money, but since then he has responded with pretexts and excuses and has only returned $5,000.
Gustavo Petro
When questioned by ‘El País’, the official assured that it was about “loan from a friend“and that I was going to finish paying him next month (November); as well as that I had not been able to wire him the money because in Mexico”They don’t let you make such big transactions.“because in that country”The issue of money laundering is very strong.“.
Another woman, Maura Yuliana Ramírez, also accused Hernández of stealing money from her in 2016.. “Andrés Hernández abused my trust, scammed me and disappeared“and also blocked her from all networks.
“I’m no longer interested in getting my money back, but I’m reporting it so that no one else falls for their scams.“, he said.
EFE
