The sons of President Alvaro Uribe reiterated that they will not attend the Senate plenary session Tuesday evening, where the
controversy over their alleged enrichment through insider trading will be discussed. The brothers claim the profit they made off property, that was later declared a free trade zone, will be invested in community aid.
“Our commitment to social responsibility didn’t begin today, it has existed since our first business enterprise: we generated income for 200 artisan families, we have supported educational centers, recycling centers, etc. Our profits from the free trade zone project will be allocated to community aid programs,” Jeronimo
Uribe told El Tiempo.
Jeronimo
reiterated that he and his brother will not attend the Senate debate because
they consider it a “political debate that seeks to harm the Government”.
“We have faced the public and we will continue to do so, we can say with total conviction that we behaved both legally and ethically,” Jeronimo added.
El Tiempo reported that members of Uribe’s cabinet met Tuesday morning to discuss the defense of his sons in the debate this evening, which will be broadcast live at about 6pm.
Journalist Daniel Coronel broke the story in the weekly
Semana, alleging that the brothers bought property in western Colombia after receiving inside information from top government officials. According to the report, the value of
property owned by the Uribe sons suspiciously grew from 33 million pesos to three
billion pesos in two years.
