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Ex-MISS COLOMBIA could be jailed for CORRUPTION
J. Glade - 22.02.2011 07:23

MONDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2011 14:34 JIM GLADE
EX-MISS COLOMBIA COULD BE JAILED OVER CORRUPTION SCANDAL
Former Miss Colombia Valerie Dominguez is one of 22 people who could be sent to jail for allegedly receiving government agricultural subsidies intended for poor farmers in the Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS) scandal, reports newspaper El Espectador.


Dominguez, who owns a jewelry business, reportedly received $163,000 (COP306 million) tax-free for an "irrigation and drainage" project.

The 22 accused allegedly received a collective $1.7 million (COP200 million) from the government-funded subsidy program without having the proper legal qualifications to do so, Prosecutor General Viviane Morales announced Monday.

The Agro Ingreso Seguro program took place under then-Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias under the Uribe administration, and was intended to decrease rural inequality by granting subsidies to peasant farmers. Former administration officials are accused of corrupting the process by giving these government funds to wealthy land owners, beauty queens and political allies.

Dominguez's relatives, the Davila family from the northeastern Magdalena department, are accused of benefiting from the scandal, as is the Lacouture family from Valle del Cauca in western Colombia. Luis Eduardo Vives Lacouture was convicted and sentenced to house arrest for paramilitary ties.

Seven former government officials including Ex-Vice Minister of Agriculture Juan Camilo Salazar Rueda are also being investigated.


 http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/14508-ex-miss-colombia-could-go-to-prison-over-corruption-scandal.html

-----------------------------

LUNES, 21 DE FEBRERO DE 2011 12:47 GEOVANY QUINTERO G�MEZ

Valerie Dom�nguez, ex Se�orita Colombia,
podr�a ir a la c�rcel por el esc�ndalo de Agro Ingreso Seguro


Valerie Dom�nguez, actriz y ex Se�orita Colombia, podr�a ir a la c�rcel por haber recibido dinero del programa Agro ingreso Seguro.
El anuncio lo hizo la Fiscal General de la Naci�n, Vivian Morales, luego de dar a conocer las primeras 22 imputaciones de cargos por el reconocido esc�ndalo.
La ex Se��rita Colombia recibi� $306 millones y su novio recibi� $435 millones.
La entidad judicial investiga la responsabilidad en los mismos hechos de otras 50 personas, agreg� la fiscal, que inform� de las medidas en una comparecencia ante la prensa.
La funcionaria explic� que las medidas fueron adoptadas por el fiscal jefe de la Unidad Nacional Especializada en Delitos contra la Administraci�n P�blica, Mart�n Moreno Sanju�n.
El fiscal anticorrupci�n "present� hoy tres solicitudes de audiencia preliminar (...) a efectos de llevar a cabo la formulaci�n de imputaci�n y la solicitud de medida de aseguramiento", agreg� Morales.
La causa se deriv� de denuncias sobre la entrega y la recepci�n irregular de subsidios del llamado programa Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS), establecido por el ahora exministro de Agricultura Andr�s Felipe Arias, quien ocup� dicho cargo durante seis de los ocho a�os de Gobierno del entonces presidente �lvaro Uribe (2002-2010), y continuado por su sucesor, Andr�s Fern�ndez.
Ambos afrontan causas preliminares en la Fiscal�a General y tambi�n son investigados, como otros exfuncionarios, por la Contralor�a General (tribunal de cuentas) y la Procuradur�a General (control disciplinario del Estado).
Las diligencias penales contra los primeros 22 implicados fueron convocadas para el 5 de abril pr�ximo en los juzgados penales municipales con funciones de control de garant�as, en Bogot�.
A ellos se les imputar�n los cargos de "inter�s indebido en la celebraci�n de contratos, contrato sin cumplimiento de requisitos legales, peculado por apropiaci�n, prevaricato por acci�n, prevaricato por omisi�n, violaci�n al r�gimen legal o constitucional de inhabilidades o incompatibilidades y falsedad ideol�gica en documento p�blico", seg�n precis� la fiscal general.

Este es listado de nombres afectados por la medida, que dio a conocer la jefa del ente acusador:


Del Ministerio

Exviceministro de Agricultura, Juan Camilo Salazar Rueda
Exsecretario de Agricultura, Juan David Ortega Arroyave
Exdirectora de Comercio y Financiamiento, Camila Reyes del Toro
Exdirector de Desarrollo Rural, Javier Enrique Romero Mercado
Exjefe de la oficina jur�dica del Minagricultura, Tulia Eugenia M�ndez Reyes
Exjefe de la oficina jur�dica, Oscar Augusto Sorder Muller
Exgerente de Incoder, Rodolfo Jos� Camp� Soto


De la Familia D�vila

Juan Manuel D�vila
Mar�a Clara Fern�ndez de Soto de D�vila
Juan Manuel D�vila Fern�ndez de Soto
Ana Mar�a D�vila
Valerie Dom�nguez Tarud


De la familia Vives Lacouture

�lvaro Vives Lacouture
In�s Margarita Vives Lacouture
Roberto Vives Lacouture
Mar�a Teresa Vives Lacouture
Patricia Vives Lacouture
Jos� Francisco Vives Vives Lacouture
Silvia Rosa Vives de S�nchez
Mar�a Zu�iga Vives
Roxana Mar�a Castro

Con informaci�n de EFE


 http://www.elespacio.com.co/oficial/index.php/judicial/judicial/19239-valerie-dominguez-ex-senorita-colombia-podria-ir-a-la-carcel-por-el-escandalo-de-agro-ingreso-seguro
------------------


Lunes 21 de febrero de 2011

Programa Agro Ingreso Seguro ha beneficiado a hijos de pol�ticos y reinas de belleza

La Se�orita Colombia 2005, Valerie Dom�nguez, modelo, actriz y dise�adora de joyas, figura como beneficiaria de un millonario subsidio no reembolsable de Agro Ingreso Seguro, el programa del Gobierno que tiene entre sus objetivos principales "promover la productividad y competitividad, reducir la desigualdad en el campo y preparar al sector agropecuario para enfrentar el reto de la internacionalizaci�n de la econom�a".

De los 376 proyectos presentados este a�o para repartir 72.500 millones de pesos en subsidios, solo 100 fueron favorecidos, uno de ellos para "riego y drenaje" por 306 millones de pesos cuya afortunada beneficiaria fue Dom�nguez. Pero ella no es la �nica reina y modelo premiada. Tambi�n Ana Mar�a D�vila, Reina Nacional del Mar 1999, a quien el a�o pasado le giraron del programa Agro Ingreso Seguro 448 millones de pesos tambi�n para "riego y drenaje".

Curiosamente, las dos reinas tienen el mismo comisionista de bolsa, Juan Manuel D�vila Fern�ndez de Soto, que es novio de Valerie y hermano de Ana Mar�a, y quien adem�s recibi� un subsidio por m�s de 435 millones de pesos para lo mismo: riego y drenaje. Todo indica que la familia D�vila es una de las grandes beneficiadas del drenaje y la irrigaci�n de los recursos p�blicos, pues el padre Juan Manuel D�vila Jimeno recibi� un subsidio de 445 millones, y su esposa Mar�a Clara Fern�ndez otro por 440 millones. En total, la familia D�vila, una de las m�s ricas e influyentes de Santa Marta, recibi� en el �ltimo a�o m�s de 2.200 millones de pesos en subsidios para "riego y drenaje" en Algarrobo, Magdalena. "Lo de los D�vila es una verg�enza -dice un consultor que conoce el programa-. �C�mo le regalan plata de todos los colombianos a una de las familias m�s poderosas de Magdalena? Es inaudito".

Hoy por m�...

Acceder a un subsidio del programa Agro Ingreso Seguro es como ganarse la loter�a, pero durante la gesti�n de Andr�s Felipe Arias, hoy precandidato conservador, buen n�mero de los que recibieron subsidios no reembolsables son grandes empresarios del campo y familias millonarias con gran influencia pol�tica regional.

Adem�s de los D�vila, en la lista de los afortunados est�n los Vives Lacouture, algunos de cuyos miembros han desempe�ado cargos p�blicos y de elecci�n popular, como Luis Eduardo, elegido para el Congreso en el periodo 2006-2010, condenado en 2008 en el proceso de la 'parapol�tica', y quien hoy goza de libertad condicional. Los Vives Lacouture desarrollan la mayor�a de sus proyectos agr�colas en la zona bananera y han recibido subsidios por m�s de 5.000 millones de pesos. "Ellos apoyaron al presidente Uribe en las campa�as pol�ticas y con esos subsidios les pagaron el apoyo", le dijo a CAMBIO un pol�tico de Magdalena que pidi� reserva de su nombre.

Los Lacouture Dangond y Lacouture Pinedo, familiares entre s� y con miembros en altas posiciones del Gobierno, como Mar�a Claudia Lacouture, cabeza del programa Colombia es Pasi�n, tambi�n han recibido subsidios por 5.235 millones de pesos para actividades de "riego y drenaje": 2.829 millones en 2007 y 2.406 millones en 2008. En cabeza de los Vives Pinedo, socios de los Lacouture en empresas como FMP & C�a., figuran subsidios por cerca de 1.000 millones de pesos en 2007.

Las sorpresas no paran. Los D�vila Abondano, influyente clan de Magdalena y cabeza del Grupo Daabon, importante comercializador de productos org�nicos e ingresos por 120 millones de d�lares al a�o en Colombia, figuran como beneficiarios de un subsidio por 463 millones de pesos en 2008, y de otros dos por 440 millones que en pr�ximos d�as ser�n desembolsados.

Si en la Costa llueve, en el Valle no escampa. Este a�o aparece un subsidio adjudicado a Mar�a Mercedes Sardi de Holgu�n, prima del ex ministro del Interior Carlos Holgu�n Sardi, por 200 millones de pesos para un programa de riego y drenaje. Consultado el ex ministro Holgu�n, asegur�: "Ellos de agricultura, poc�n". Y no puede dejar de mencionarse el caso del abogado Danny Alirio Villamizar, hijo del senador Alirio Villamizar -detenido por el esc�ndalo de las notar�as-, a quien Agro Ingreso Seguro le gir� 496 millones de pesos el a�o pasado, no reembolsables y libres de impuestos, gracias a una ley que fue iniciativa de su padre.

Queda a�n mucha 'tela por cortar' y surgen demasiadas dudas sobre si los millonarios subsidios no reembolsables del programa del Ministerio de Agricultura terminaron en los bolsillos equivocados.

"Ellos ganaron en franca lid"
Juli�n Alfredo G�mez D�az,
director de Agro Ingreso Seguro

CAMBIO. �Por qu� familias influyentes y grandes empresarios agr�colas terminaron beneficiados con subsidios millonarios no reembolsables?

Juli�n Alfredo G�mez. No desconozco que esto haya sucedido pero es claro que participaron en igualdad de condiciones con los dem�s aspirantes y cumplieron con todos los requisitos y criterios de evaluaci�n t�cnica, ambiental, financiera y productiva.

No tiene presentaci�n que subsidios destinados supuestamente a reducir la desigualdad en el campo hayan terminado en las manos de los m�s ricos...

Las reglas son generales y ellos se ajustaron a esas reglas y a todas las exigencias, y ganaron en franca lid. Las normas no lo proh�ben, cualquier persona puede presentarse y obtener esos recursos. Pero puedo decirle es que hemos cambiado las reglas de juego para que quien haya obtenido recursos no pueda presentarse al a�o siguiente.

A partir de este a�o, porque en a�os anteriores no ha sido as�.

S�, eso es claro. A partir de este a�o establecimos esa regla.

Queda la sensaci�n que hasta ahora ha primado el criterio pol�tico...

El programa tiene cero influencia pol�tica, priman los requisitos t�cnicos.

Otros beneficiados

- Familia Trib�n, zona bananera, 2.140 millones
- Familia Riveros P�ez, Meta, 2.000 millones
- Familia Vives , zona bananera, 1.610 millones
- Familia Fern�ndez de Castro, zona bananera, 1.413 millones.
- Familia Posada Grillo, Valle, 1.037 millones
- Familia Cuello, La Guajira, 629 millones


 http://www.cambio.com.co/paiscambio/847/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_CAMBIO-6185730.html
-----------------


THURSDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2009 08:14 ADRIAAN ALSEMA

Beauty queens and policitians' families receive major subsidies

Multi-million subsidies to "promote productivity and competition and reduce inequality" in Colombia's agriculture have ended up in the pockets of beauty queens, politicians' family members and wealthy families, weekly Cambio reported Thursday.

According to the magazine, 100 of the 376 projects that applied for subsidy were granted a part of the tax free 72.5 billion peso (US$37.9 million) federal budget, but despite the goal that the subsidy seems to imply, a large number of the recipients were not poor farmers, but wealthy, powerful families, beauty queens and the families of politicians.

Former Miss Colombia and actress Valerie Dominguez, who has a jewelry business, received 306 million pesos for an "irrigation and drainage" project. Former National Queen of the Sea, Ana Maria Davila received 448 million pesos for another "irrigation and drainage" project. Dominguez is the girlfriend and Ana Maria is the sister of Juan Manuel Davila Fernandez de Soto, member of the Davila family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful in the Magdalena department. In total, the family received 2.2 billion pesos, tax free, all for "irrigation and drainage" projects in their home region.

Another recipient is former congressman Luis Eduardo Vives Lacouture, currently on house-arrest after being convicted for enjoying ties to paramilitary death squads and member of a family that own the majority of development projects in the north Colombian banana growing region and has powerful positions within the government; Maria Claudia Lacouture is head of the government's 'Colombia es Pasion' program that is in charge of promoting tourism to Colombia.

"They supported President Uribe in his political campaigns and with these subsidies are paid for their support," an anonymous local politician told Cambio. The Vives Lacourte family received 5 billion pesos, also for "irrigation and drainage" projects.

Another wealthy family, the Davila Abondanos, whose agricultural company has an estimated income of US$120 million a year, received 463 million pesos in 2008 and will receive another 440 million pesos this year.

Maria Mercedes Sardi de Holguin, cousin of former Interior and Justice Minister Carlos Holguin Sardi, received 200 million poesos for an "irrigation and drainage" project and the son of Alirio Villamizar, arrested over suspicions of bribery, received 496 million pesos.

Former Agriculture Minister and current hopeful for the 2010 presidential elections, Andres Felipe Arias, responsible for the granting of the subsidies, sees no objections in the recipients of the subsidies.

"Projects of both businessmen and farmers' associations benefited," he told radio station La W, vowing the procedure had been transparent and stressing that he as Minister never personally was involved in the granting of the particular subsidies.

Current Minisiter of Agriculture, Andres Fernandez, assured the same radio station that the Inspector General's Office, investigating the cash flow within the Villamizar family, did not see any irregularities in the granting of subsidy.

The Minister added that the Comptroller General's Office, Colombia's financial watchdog, also saw no irregularities.


 http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/6082-beauty-queens-and-policitians-families-receive-major-subsidies.html
------------------------------
 

Read more about: anti-fascisme / racisme antimilitarisme vrijheid, repressie & mensenrechten

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Colombia: Stop giving free money to the rich 
Gustavo Silva Cano - 22.02.2011 08:31

MONDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2009 06:16 GUSTAVO SILVA CANO

Dear government, please stop giving free money to the rich

Agricultural subsidies are a nasty thing. They are a source of government waste, inexplicable tax money handouts for a few, an affront to the free market principles that are essential for economic growth. The European Union and the Unites States have bloated and complex systems of farm subsidies, which, among other things, impede fair and free competition in world markets for products grown in the developing world. In Colombia, subsidies of all kinds are relatively small due to budgetary constraints, although the government in recent years devised a large program designed to give citizens� hard earned pesos to agribusinesses. Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS), as the program is called, has the aim to �promote the competitiveness and productivity of [Colombia�s] farming sector� according to the official website. Between 2007 and today, the Colombian state has spent around 1.26 trillion pesos (around US$630 million again, according to SIGOB.gov.co, another official website) in AIS subsidies.

That is a huge number. When you have such large, arbitrary transfers of taxpayers� money to private individuals, the least one expects is some transparency and accountability. And there has been very little of that. Cambio, a leading news magazine, ran a story that says how some AIS subsidies ended in the pockets of a few rich agro-entrepreneurs in northern Colombia. According to the article, that has created a scandal of enormous proportions, four wealthy families in the department of Magdalena received around 25,000 million pesos (12.5 million dollars) in handouts. The news became scandal material, in part because one of the recipients of the money was Valerie Dominguez, a former Miss Colombia. The article claims that members of these four families divided their farms in smaller parts among themselves in order to qualify for more AIS funds.

Ever since the Cambio article was published, more information on AIS recipients has come to light. Caracol, a broadcasting network, has it that 18 �rich families� in the department of Santander received around 9 billion pesos (4.5 million dollars). According to newspaper El Espectador, Ismael Pantoja, a drug lord better known as �El Negro� who is now imprisoned in New Jersey, received 200 million pesos (US$100,000) in AIS subsidies.

Now, all eyes are on Andres Felipe Arias, the former Minister of Agriculture and a presidential hopeful from the Conservative Party. The subsidy program was designed under his tenure, and he is coming under attack from many quarters for it. Rudolf Hommes, a former Minister of the Economy, wrote recently in El Tiempo that Arias� AIS amounted to an application �of the idea, popular among the noblesse prior to the French Revolution, that in order to help the poor one has to give money to the rich.� With presidential primaries for the Conservative Party coming soon, Arias wants to get rid of the scandal before it affects his image any further. Whether he will be able to do it remains an open question �and Arias does not have much in his favor. Nobody wants the president to be a brazen benefactor for the wealthy on top of young and inexperienced.

President Uribe has already ordered that all the names of AIS beneficiaries be revealed to the public. An investigation may follow. Will it change anything? Of course, the recipients who have come under scrutiny due to the scandal claim that they got the funds through legal means, and not through corruption or wrongdoing. They may be right. As a matter of fact, the law and the regulations of the AIS allow such high amounts of money to be allocated as they have been �the law has not been violated. And that is precisely the problem: the fact that AIS was designed in a way that lets wealthy entrepreneurs seize millions of dollars in taxpayers� money is simply outrageous. The program must be overhauled and the funds going to the well off ought to be frozen or returned.

This AIS scandal is the perfect example of what is so wrong with agricultural subsidies: besides distorting the market (prices for subsidized products become artificially low giving them an unfair advantage over unsubsidized products), they benefit very few people, who end up getting paid to produce crops that people neither need nor want. As with all government spending, once these subsidies are put in place, it is virtually impossible to get rid of them in the future, no matter how inefficient and wasteful they are. Moreover, the fact that so many rich people ended up receiving government money in a country so ridden by poverty and inequality, makes the whole affair even more disgraceful. I even do not want to think about the growing fiscal deficit, or the many important things in which that money could have been spent instead.

The beneficiaries defend themselves by saying that without those AIS funds they would have been unable to complete their projects, that the subsidies have helped them expand production and hire more workers. But of course! You guys are getting free money! It is simply natural that these people are better off, and some benefit for a few others is also expected. The real question is whether AIS is good for the Colombian economy, for the treasury, and for Colombian agriculture.

I seriously doubt it.

 http://colombiareports.com/opinion/111-colombiamerican/6343-dear-government-please-stop-giving-free-money-to-the-rich.html
Colombia: Agro-esc�ndalo 
Elespectador - 22.02.2011 08:45

14 Oct 2009 - 6:38 am

Por Agro-esc�ndalo, uribistas se unen a moci�n de censura contra Minagricultura


Mientras Armando Benedetti se vincul� a la causa, su hom�logo Samuel Arrieta record� que en 2007 advirti� al Gobierno fallas en el programa.


En medio del bullicio que ha suscitado el l�o del Gobierno Nacional por el programa de Agro Ingreso Seguro, ahora varios de sus principales aliados apoyan las causas de la oposici�n.

Uno de los reconocidos escuderos del presidente �lvaro Uribe, el senador Armando Benedetti, anuncio que apoyar� la moci�n de censura impulsada por el Partido Liberal contra el Ministro de Agricultura, Andr�s Fern�ndez Acosta.

Benedetti dijo que "favorecer a los que m�s tienen con la disculpa de generar empleo" fue una estrategia que buscaba crear una precandidatura presidencial.

"La pol�tica del Ministerio de Agricultura est� enfocada a crear exenciones de impuesto y subsidios para los grandes terratenientes con el pretexto de crear m�s empleo. Lo que se est� consiguiendo con estas medidas inocuas es volver a los campesinos jornaleros, quit�ndoles su esencia que es la tenencia de la tierra", asegur� el Legislador.
El Senador consider� que no es bueno pensar primero en "distribuir para luego crecer", tras explicar que le gustaban m�s las pol�ticas del anterior primer ministro del Gobierno Uribe, Gustavo Cano, las cuales "eran m�s equitativas con el sector campesino".
En similar circunstancias se encuentra el senador Samuel Benjam�n Arrieta. Aunque �l no apoya la posibilidad de aplicar una moci�n de censura contra Fern�ndez, s� le record� al Gobierno como en 2007 le advirti� de las falencias del programa.
Estas fueron algunas de las palabras que para la �poca en la cual se aprob� el proyecto de Agro Ingreso Seguro, mencion� Arrieta:

"Yo quiero apartarme de la euforia con que se ha visto este proyecto de ley, yo creo que es un proyecto fruto de un hecho creado por el Gobierno en el presupuesto, aqu� leemos en la justificaci�n de los Ponentes que este Proyecto de Agro Ingreso Seguro cuenta con unos recursos de $400 mil millones, conferidos por el Legislativo en la aprobaci�n del Presupuesto Nacional, lo que permiti� a partir del 13 de febrero de 2007, abrir la convocatoria para financiar sistemas de riego en el nivel nacional, convocatoria que se extiende hasta el 31 de marzo, es decir aqu� hay un programa dentro del presupuesto, que se pretende ahora traer como ley de la Rep�blica, por seis a�os, con unos componentes que llaman mucho la atenci�n".

"El primero es el filos�fico, una ley supuestamente para proteger al agro colombiano, de los efectos negativos del Tratado de Libre Comercio, que como aqu� se ha dicho y nos consta en el debate nacional e internacional, es un tratado que est� bastante empantanado, que no tiene claridad, ni aqu� ni en el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos, pero los Ponentes dan por sentado que es un tratado que se firmar� este a�o, pero me llama la atenci�n, Presidente, en esos componentes, y en los elementos del programa un tema que se llama proyecto de trazabilidad de Fedeg�n, 10.600 millones de pesos, apoyos para la competitividad, en la l�nea de cr�ditos 55.154 millones de pesos".

"Yo no s� si es un proyecto de ley, o si es un acto de brujer�a, porque aqu�, no ha pasado absolutamente nada frente al tema del Tratado de Libre Comercio, aqu� lo que estamos es, como ya lo ha dicho el propio programa del Gobierno, beneficiando a sectores claramente definidos como los se�ores de Fedeg�n, y mire esta perlita m�s adelante, en el proyecto de ley, evaluaci�n del programa, el Ministerio de Agricultura y de Desarrollo Rural contratar� cada dos a�os, o antes si lo estima conveniente, una evaluaci�n externa, con una entidad independiente y de reconocida idoneidad para evaluar los resultados de la ejecuci�n del programa, es decir, aqu� nos est�n incluyendo un contrato, para revisar si el programa es bueno".

Cuando fue votado el proyecto en 2007, Samuel Arrieta fue el �nico uribista que no acompa�� al Gobierno en esa iniciativa.

 http://elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo166536-agro-escandalo-uribistas-se-unen-mocion-de-censura-contra-minagricu
Motion to censor Agriculture Minister grows 
Neda Vanova - 22.02.2011 08:52

WEDNESDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2009 09:18 NEDA VANOVA

Support for motion to censor Agriculture Minister grows

Several of the Colombian government's key allies in Congress have announced their support for the opposition's motion to censor Agriculture Minister Andres Fernandez Acosta, amid a growing scandal involving possible corruption in granting federal subsidies.

Once a key supporter of President Alvaro Uribe, Senator Armando Benedetti announced he would support the confidence motion pushed by the Liberal Party against Fern�ndez Acosta.

Benedetti said that "to favor those with the most under the excuse of creating jobs" was a strategy that sought to create a presidential candidacy, reports newspaper El Espectador.

"The policy of the Ministry of Agriculture is focused on creating tax exemptions and subsidies for large landowners under the guise of creating more jobs. What is being achieved through these measures is again [the harming of] peasants and laborers, taking away their essence which is land tenure," Benedetti said.

He went on to say that he disapproved of the policy "distribute and then grow," explaining that he preferred the policies of the former prime minister of the Uribe government, Gustavo Cano, which were "more equal with the peasant sector."

Senator Samuel Benjamin Arrieta is in a similar position. Although he does not support the possibility of a censure motion against Fernandez, he reminded the government that in 2007 he had warned of the shortcomings of the program.

At the time of the approval of the Agro Ingreso Seguro project, Arrieta said: "I want to separate myself from the euphoria that has greeted this bill.... I don't know if it's an act of law or an act of witchcraft."

When the motion was passed in 2007, Arrieta was the only Uribista who did not support the government's initiative.

The Agro Ingreso Seguro subsidies came under fire after weekly Cambio reported that the money, originally meant to create equality in the agricultural sector, ended up in pockets of beauty queens, the wealthy, and families of politicians.

 http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/6376-uribistas-switching-sides-in-agro-scandal.html
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