Colombia’s ambassador to Venezuela resigned Monday after emails were leaked linking the diplomat to the Nule Group, investigated for a major corruption scandal that previously led to the suspension of the mayor of Bogota.
Ambassador Jose Fernando Bautista, who was sworn in no more than four months ago, announced his resignation in a letter in which he said he “offered my resignation as Ambassador of Colombia in Venezuela to President Juan Manuel Santos, with who I have shared different political projects and a sentiment of friendship and admiration.”
According to the now-former ambassador, his situation had become unworkable after he had been accused of sending gifts to the Nule Group, a construction company that is currently on trial for having granted public works through corruption. Two congressmen are in jail under suspicion of having received commissions of the Nule Group and the mayor of Bogota was suspended while the Prosecutor General’s Office investigated him because he allegedly took bribes of the construction company.
Colombia’s Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin confirmed the ambassador’s resignation and said that she and President Juan Manuel Santos accepted the resignation.
