The Police of Colombia has arrested for fraud crimes the former governor of the department of La Guajira, Hernando Deluque, father of Alfredo Deluque, who was the candidate supported by the elected president Abelardo De la Espriella for the Presidency of the Senate in a parliamentary vote that he ended up losing.
The detention of Hernando Deluque occurred in Riohacha on the morning of Friday, after the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice confirmed in second instance the guilty verdict and a sentence of eight years in prison for carrying out irregular contracts, according to the high court itself in a statement released by BluRadio.
On Tuesday of this same week, the Senate of Colombia finally elected as president Honorio Henríquez, from the Democratic Center party of former president Álvaro Uribe, thanks to the support of the leftist Historical Pact, the coalition of the outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, in a political move that left Alfredo Deluque, the candidate supported by the elected president De la Espriella, out of the race.
After the result, De la Espriella tried to downplay this first setback in his political career and stated that his interest was not focused on that election in the Upper House of the Colombian Congress, insisting that it was Deluque who communicated to him his intention to compete for the position. "I was never obsessed with the presidency of the Senate," he has assured.