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On one of the walls of the office of the mayor of Cartagena, William Dau, in the Palacio de la Aduana, hangs the coat of arms of India, emblem of freedom and a city that broke the chains in 1811.
In it you can see an indigenous woman, with African features, who has broken the chains of slavery and as a backdrop the Cerro de la Popa. The symbol is no accident for an administration that has set out to break even thicker shackles: the chains of corruption.
Surrounded by some of his officials, all very young, Mayor Dau received EL TIEMPO in his office, or rather, in the little piece of Cartagena’s wall to which he is entitled as president.
Despite his more than 60 years, since he smoked two cigarettes (one after the other) during the interview, Dau is a vital, energetic and clear man: quite a ‘tractor’, how he presents himself.
Where and why does the nickname of the ‘tractor’ Dau arise?
When I was in the United States and made my complaints on social networks and had a lot of followers here in Cartagena, on one occasion someone told me ‘you are unstoppable, you look like a tractor’. I did not stop him balls. Before long, many people began to post photos, memes and more comments, and the nickname of the ‘tractor’ went viral with a simple comment.
What is the biggest consequence of corruption in Cartagena?
The biggest consequence of corruption is poverty and inequality. A city as rich as Cartagena is, which has possibly more per capita income than any city in the country, and it gets a lot of money, but there is so much poverty and inequality.
How much money does corruption take from Cartagena annually?
I argue that corruption takes 70 percent of the city’s resources. That is 1.2 trillion pesos a year. That is why problems will never be solved. On the contrary, they will be worse.
You have been an anti-corruption overseer for at least 25 years and know the antecedents of this scourge. At what point does corruption take off in Cartagena?
It has always existed here, but it was exacerbated by the 1991 constitution and drug trafficking. This period prostituted the control organs and the judicial branch. Today all branches of public power eat from the same plate and that is why there is corruption at such shameful levels in the country.
(We also invite you to read: Environmental crime in Cartagena: 51.4 hectares of mangrove were devastated)
From your experience, what is the best way to combat corruption?
You cannot fight just by denouncing, because all branches of public power eat from the same plate, but what you have to do is keep putting your finger on the sore, make it visible and denounce the corrupt.
In your ‘white paper’ against corruption in Cartagena, what is the most serious thing you found?
They stole the silver from the judicial titles, and took billions of pesos. The millionaire robberies that were made in the pension fund. These investigations involve two current Cartagena councilors who at the time were heads of the pension fund office.
You also denounced in the white paper that there were District attorneys at the service of irregular contracts.
They empowered private attorneys to claim District securities and consigned them to private accounts. In the division that handles public services, there were officials who created companies that contracted and subcontracted with the District, remaining with millionaire contracts, but the city with half-works or “white elephants.”
(We also invite you to read: The ‘vices’ that have prevented the recovery of the bay of Cartagena)
William Dau is a lawyer from the Universidad del Rosario, with a postgraduate degree in Tax Law. He has been an anti-corruption watchdog for more than 20 years.
John Montaño- THE TIME
Do you feel that the corrupt houses of the city are behind the criticism and persecution of your administration?
The attacks are permanent. Where more than a trillion pesos were stolen a year, it was logical that they were not going to remain silent, and that is why they attack my administration, both from outside and inside. Today, I am still infiltrated and there are many people with bad habits that come from previous administrations.
Infiltrators? Are there still corrupt officials in the mayor’s office?
Most of the plant personnel are good and healthy people, but there are also many people who come with vices of the past: contractors with whom we had to swallow the frog and continue hiring them because the works cannot be stopped, but they have stripped the copper . These changes do not happen overnight, but little by little we are refining this administration.
Who is behind the attacks on William Dau and his administration?
The entire political class that was defeated, and I’m not just referring to the councilors, because obviously we are in a plan of clash with the council. That political class that finances all the campaigns, that financed the councilors. All those people who campaigned for William Garcia, Yolanda Wong. All those who supported them, the journalists at their service, all of them are the same ones who attack me today.
They (control organs) eat from the same plate and cover themselves with the same blanket. In the coming days we are going to make public recordings of how the Comptroller’s Office eats from the same plate of corruption.
The best way to attack corruption is with decent work and education. On these fronts, what are you doing?
There is only one politician on the entire planet whom I admire. He’s a gringo senator named Bernie Sanders. I aspire, at the end of my four years, to have offered Cartagena what Bernie Sanders calls employment for all, work for all, health for all and justice for all: with these pillars there is no society that cannot move forward.
His critics claim that his administration does not execute and does not develop works
My government plan is Cartagena against corruption and poverty. And in Cartagena we are developing programs. People say ‘Mayor, where are the works?’ Man, we are in the first year and this is normally a year to plan and make projections, in the second year contracts are going to be signed and in the third year works will be seen.
How do you plan to combat poverty?
To fight poverty you have to hire numbers of people to irrigate massive amounts of money among the most vulnerable population. By hiring unskilled labor there are jobs such as cleaning the canals. With the Inter-American Development Bank we are going to make an agreement to hire Cartagena to intervene and clean in an organized manner in the Ciénaga de la Virgen.
What programs of this administration require massive hiring of personnel?
We hired 350 people for the heroic neighborhood group, which did pedagogy during the pandemic. We will hire other people to work on the beaches, training bathers in the responsibility of maintaining self-protection. I want to create another group of people to be the guardians of the mangrove in the face of devastation.
How much did the pandemic alter your development plan?
Our development plan was finished adjusting in the middle of the pandemic, we had to make modifications to it because we know that we will have less income. However, it is the most ambitious development plan that Cartagena has seen. A development plan normally has 200 goals, ours has 650 goals.
(We also invite you to read: Mayor William Dau seeks the anthem against corruption in Cartagena)
The corrupt were not as prepared to confront me as I was them, because the law, the law and justice are on my side. Those who have done wrong are they, and they will fall
And do you think that time will reach you to comply with everything that this development plan raises?
We are continuing with our development plan, and surely we will not be able to meet all the goals because it is very ambitious, but if we get closer we can be well served.
How do you want Cartagena to remember you when your administration ends?
The person who ended poverty and positioned Cartagena in the 21st century among the network of major world cities. Cartagena has to be part of the network of the most important cities in the world and have works everywhere.
What do you want to say today to the corrupt and critical who did not give a penny for your success as a ruler?
The corrupt were not as prepared to confront me as I was them, because the law, the law and justice are on my side. Those who have done wrong are they, and they will fall. Before taking office, at the end of 2019, I had a meeting in the Nariño Palace and there an advisor to President Iván Duque, who is from Cartagena, approached me and told me: ‘Mayor, the corrupt are betting that you will last us three months in office before being fired. ‘ Well see I’ve been nine months and here I am.
But there is also a people who still believe in you
They did not think that I was going to defend myself that well and that the citizens were going to support me, the citizens are not going to tell me, people are no longer going to sell their vote.
You have stated that you have appealed to the State Legal Agency for the ‘Aquarela’ case, why?
Cartagena has always been a mess. Here nobody knows who has sued us and for how much. As those who ran the legal office were miscreants, who participated in the fair of theft of public resources, we were totally lost and that is why we turned to the State Legal Agency for advice. They are already advising a lot of legal processes against Cartagena and they are advising us with the case of ‘Aquarela’ and other processes.
How do you feel today that your administration is the target of investigations by the Comptroller’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office?
I do not feel calm, because nobody likes to have their officials investigated and even less to be suspended, but this is a fight and a political persecution to affect my government.
How was the salary of the first lady, Cynthia Pérez Amador?
In the case of Cynthia Pérez, these demands are not valid, she is entitled to her salary of 7 million pesos; but the comptroller imposed this arbitrary measure, and that has no recourse. It is not that he is right, but we are going to lower his salary and we are going to continue fighting and I am going to wage war against this attorney. We will take legal action against him.
Most of the plant personnel are good and healthy people, but there are also many people who come with vices from the past: contractors with whom we had to swallow the frog and continue hiring them …
Why is Secretary General Diana Martínez Berrocal leaving?
What they were looking for was to remove Diana Martínez from the General Secretary because she has been a stone in the shoe for the corrupt. Councilors and not councilors came to propose illicit businesses and she would send them to the chorizo and then she would tell me.
What responsibility do the control bodies have in the advance of corruption in the city?
They eat from the same plate and cover themselves with the same blanket. In the next few days we are going to make public some recordings of how the Comptroller’s Office eats from the same plate of corruption.
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John Montaño
Editor of EL TIEMPO
Cartagena
On twitter: @PilotodeCometas
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