Jesús David Ureña, mayor in charge of El Charco, Nariño, kidnapped

The governor of Nariño, Jhon Rojas, reported this Sunday that the mayor in charge of the municipality of El Charco, Jesús David Ureña, was kidnapped. The official explained that gunmen intercepted him while the local president was traveling on a boat to the municipality of Guapi, Cauca.

“This afternoon armed men took the mayor of the municipality of El Charco - Nariño, Jesús David Ureña. From the Government of Nariño we demand respect for his life and integrity and his immediate safe return,” Rojas wrote on his Twitter account. This statement was joined by that of the Pacific Naval Force, who made the same complaint.

The entity is working hand in hand with the National Army and the Police to proceed with the corresponding operations in the area where the events occurred. Authorities hypothesize that the official may have been kidnapped by the National Liberation Army (ELN), although this information is yet to be verified.

In turn, they confirmed that in the next few hours it will hold a Security Council to determine the actions leading to the whereabouts of Ureña. “At the moment, a reward of up to 50 million is being offered for information about the official's whereabouts,” one of the communications of the Pacific Naval Force reads.

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The Attorney General's Office, for its part, sent a specialized prosecutor from Cauca, with its judicial police team, to find out the whereabouts of the mayor in charge. “Jesús David Ureña, who was allegedly kidnapped by armed men while mobilizing through La Bocana, in Guapi, Cauca,” the entity said on its verified Twitter profile.

It should be recalled that recently the Colombian Navy rescued nine citizens kidnapped by the ELN in Chocó. Among them were six adults and three minors. According to the authorities, the victims were traveling in a public transport boat in the waters of the department and exactly in the Papayo sector (Litoral San Juan), they were intercepted by four armed subjects of the group outside the law.

The Corruption Case of Víctor Canelo and the Arrival of Jesús David Ureña to the Mayor's Office

It should be recalled that Ureña was appointed mayor in charge after the corruption scandal of local president Victor Candelo and his Secretary of Government, Jhon Jainer Torres. Both were arrested and prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.

The investigating body charged the mayor for his alleged co-authorship of crimes of ideological falsehood in public document and contract without compliance with legal requirements in heterogeneous competition with violation of regime and incompatibilities. The financial adviser was charged with criminal contractual conduct without compliance with legal requirements and ideological falsehood in a public document.

In context: Mayor of El Charco, Nariño, and financial adviser are prosecuted

Both were captured by agents of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) on August 31, 2021 pursuant to an order issued by the Third Municipal Criminal Court of Pasto, capital of Nariño. In view of Candelo's judalization, Ureña was appointed mayor in charge; however, the coastal population did not easily accept the situation because the official is not originally from the region.

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