Mayor Ousted in Colombia After Claims of Bungling
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Version 0 of 1. CARACAS, Venezuela — The inspector general of Colombia on Monday ordered the mayor of Bogotá to be removed from office, saying that he had made serious mistakes in his handling of the botched transfer of garbage collection from private contractors to a government-run service. The decision to remove the leftist mayor, Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla and onetime presidential candidate, stunned many in Colombia, and some questioned the inspector general’s authority to remove an elected official. The ruling also bars Mr. Petro from holding public office for 15 years. On Monday night Mr. Petro rallied thousands of supporters in Bogotá’s main plaza. He denounced the decision to remove him, suggesting it was politically motivated. Earlier he posted a comment on Twitter calling the move “a coup d’état against the progressive government of Bogotá.” Mr. Petro can appeal the ruling. The mayor of Bogotá, Colombia’s capital and a city with a population of about eight million people, is one of the country’s most high-profile elected officials. Some recent mayors have become famous worldwide, lauded for innovative work in reviving what had been a deteriorating city. But the mayor elected before Mr. Petro was jailed for corruption, and Mr. Petro’s tenure has been rocky. He took office with high expectations in 2012. A former member of the M-19 rebel group, now disbanded, he was seen as a leftist politician with a bright political future. But once in office he was criticized for his management style, viewed by some as an idealist with little interest in or aptitude for the daily work of running a complex and chaotic city. He was widely criticized last December when trash piled up in the streets after the transfer of garbage collection to a government-run service went badly. The inspector general, Alejandro Ordóñez, said that, among the reasons for the decision to remove the mayor, Mr. Petro had put public health at risk by mismanaging the transfer. He also said the mayor acted against the interests of fair competition by arranging it so that private companies could not provide garbage service. Mr. Petro was jailed for his guerrilla activities in the 1980s, but he eventually embraced electoral politics and was elected to the Senate, where he was known for his vocal criticism of corruption and legislators with ties to right-wing paramilitary groups. He made a run for president in 2010. <NYT_AUTHOR_ID> <p>Susan Abad contributed reporting from Bogotá, Colombia. |