Colombia’s State Council upheld a lawsuit against current Senate President Juan Manuel Corzo for using his political position to influence the 2007 election of the head of a state-backed development organization in northern Colombia.
Corzo was accused of pressuring board members of the Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Northeast Frontier (CORPONOR), an organization that promotes and implements social and economic development in the department of Norte de Santander, to elect engineer Luis Lizcano and ignore other candidates vying for the director general position.
Attorneys presented a video as evidence that showed Corzo and Lizcano discussing the upcoming election. Lizcano was recently re-elected after his first term.
Corzo was accused by the mayor of Cucuta in 2011 of having paramilitary ties and procuring money from illegal armed groups to support the election bids of his political allies in the 1990s. Several other lawsuits have previously been brought against him for paramilitary links and influence peddling.
Corzo will be replaced July 20 by U Party Senator Roy Barrerras who was elected as the new Senate president in April.
