The Director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency (DAPRI), Angie Rodriguez, denounced on Wednesday that she and her family were victims of intimidation. Through a video clip posted on the entity’s social media networks, he provided details of what happened in the early hours of November 21, when five masked men entered his parents’ home, in southeastern Bogotá. As he explains, it was no ordinary robbery, because during the hour and twelve minutes he spent in the house, they did not take any valuables, “except a blue bag with personal items that could be misused through a further montage of which I was a victim. The house was destroyed internally,” he says.
To support his claims, Rodriguez included images from a security camera showing, first, how a man climbs the front of the house with a rope, and then exits out the door, completely calm and with things in their hands, of the five people. It also includes an image showing documents and books scattered in what appears to be a study, with a bookcase in the background and an open drawer.
According to Rodriguez, “it follows that they were looking for documents related to their jobs,” and he is talking in particular about those related to the Adaptation Fund, an institution with an investment budget of $1 million that she runs as director. The outgoing official confirms that behind this act, which she describes as “intimidation,” are people who met with the aim of removing her from the presidency, in an attempt to harm her because of her work “to ensure the social well-being of Colombians.” Likewise, he explains that he has already filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office and shows the camera a document proving this, but it cannot be read.
Only hours ago, between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, he appeared to be distancing himself from the president, who asked him to resign, without providing further details about the reasons. This is an abrupt end to Rodriguez’s rapid rise in the Nariño family, where he has become Petro’s right-hand man since taking office last February, appearing at his side at most events and receiving evidence of trust such as the appointment from the Adaptation Fund.
In the complaint video, Rodriguez does not refer to the presidential decision and assures Petro of his “commitment, gratitude and loyalty.” However, he asks the Minister of Defense and the Police Director to maintain his security and extend it to his closest family members. “The only thing they took were coins from two of my son’s piggy banks with his name on them, so they broke them and took their contents. For experts on security issues, this constitutes a direct threat or attack on my son,” he says, announcing that he has decided to expel him from the country in the coming days. Despite the difficult situation, Rodriguez says she has become stronger: “We will emerge stronger, because I am a handmade woman, like most Colombians. I have nothing to hide,” before concluding her speech by reading a psalm from the Bible.