00:00Beyond the debates and fights, there exists in Congress a low-profile but effective bureaucratic machine.
00:06It moves millions of dollars in resources every month.
00:08These are the legislative work units, known as UTLs.
00:12Each member of Congress has more than 87 million pesos a month to hire up to 10 people at their discretion.
00:20trustworthy.
00:21We're talking about more than 295 billion pesos a year that come out of public coffers for these things.
00:27teams.
00:28The rule states that they are intended to guarantee efficient legislative work, but they have been marred by multiple scandals such as the
00:35of the fees that some congressmen demand from their own officials.
00:40They also have the shadow of being a possible system of political favors and even of nepotism.
00:46El Espectador found that in the UTLs of this legislature there is a power network full of former congressmen, recycled candidates, and relatives
00:55regional politicians, figures from the previous government, and even campaign financiers.
01:00Let's begin.
01:00In Norte de Santander, the conservative representative José Luis Duarte Contreras, the most voted in the department, included in his UTL
01:08Paola Andrea Villamizar as advisor number 8, earning approximately 26 million pesos per month.
01:15She is the daughter of the governor of that department, William Villamizar.
01:19And this governor's connections also extend to the peace seats.
01:23Tatiana Gaona's brother, Edwin Villamizar, and her nephew, Wilmer Mendoza Villamizar, are employed in the UTL (Legislative Technical Unit).
01:31In Santander, a similar phenomenon occurs with the structure of Governor Juvenal Díaz Mateus.
01:36Conservative representative Guillermo León Blanco appointed Emiliano Díaz Mateus, brother of [name missing], as his number 1 advisor in his UTL (Legislative Technical Unit).
01:44governor.
01:45In addition, he named Miguel Torres Roa, who donated nearly 70 million pesos to his campaign.
01:50And in Tolima, in the UTL of Congresswoman Delsi Sasa, she was hired, with a salary of 21 million.
01:56pesos per month, Juliana Macías Barreto,
01:58niece of former senator and former governor Óscar Barreto, head of one of the strongest political houses in that department.
02:05The historical pact also records power shifts.
02:08Gabriela Muñoz Olaya, a former contractor for Eurocivil and very close to former president Gustavo Petro,
02:14She is linked as assistant 3 to the team of representative Marco Incapié.
02:19Another case is that of Luis Eduardo Ginás, former director of the DIAN and the UIAF,
02:24who now works as advisor 2 to Representative Luz Verónica Estrada,
02:28receiving more than 15 million pesos a month.
02:31Ironically, he had previously hired her at the DIAN (Colombian Tax and Customs Directorate).
02:34For his part, Amaury Julio Pérez, the representative of Bolívar for the historical pact,
02:38He appointed former conservative representative Fernando Niño Mendoza as advisor number 8.
02:44And closing out this sector is former congressman Norman David Bañol, who represented indigenous people.
02:49who returned to the Capitol as assistant 2 to Representative Carlos Mario Calvo.
02:54In the Democratic Center, the representative for Antioquia, Melisa Orrego,
02:58She appointed Diana Marcela Uribe Tobón as her main advisor,
03:01wife of the former mayor of Bello, Óscar Andrés Pérez,
03:05convicted for irregularities in public procurement.
03:08And in the Liberal Party, the representative for Bolívar, Yolanda Wong Valdiris,
03:13He included Rosa América García Turbay in his team,
03:16relative of his Senate running mate, Lidio García Turbay, former president of this corporation.
03:21While the country faces a fiscal crisis and a budget of 636 trillion pesos is being debated,
03:27The cost of the UTL continues to weigh heavily on public spending.
03:31Although reforms have been proposed to professionalize these legislative work units
03:37and to reduce bureaucracy, so far there is no political will from the parliamentary groups.
03:41Do you want to know all the power plays in Congress?
03:44Don't miss the coverage in the political section of El Espectador
03:47on our website and on all our social media channels.
