Mindefensa and Army offices explored for relocation to the building at 100th with 7th after the failure of the ‘fortress project’ in Bogotá’s CAN

Everything was ready for the outgoing president to cut the ribbon for the inauguration of the so-called ‘Colombian Pentagon’ seven days before the end of Gustavo Petro’s government, a 240,000 m² complex where the new offices of the Ministry of Defense, the Military Forces, the Police, and other defense sector departments were to be located.

The render or model shows an intelligent glass building, with characteristics classified as national security.

However, surprisingly, on February 22, the Ministry of Defense announced the unilateral termination of the construction, the cessation of fee payments and other disbursements to the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) –the project manager–, as well as the reimbursement of funds already disbursed. And the only thing the new government will inherit is a vacant lot where the old National Administrative Center (CAN) was located on El Dorado Avenue and the threat of a millionaire lawsuit within a process in which several officials involved in the MI-17 Russian helicopter scandal are mentioned.

Former candidate Paloma Valencia told the Prosecutor’s Office in mid-May that, during Iván Velásquez’s tenure as Minister of Defense –currently Colombia’s ambassador to the Vatican and Iván Cepeda’s eventual anti-corruption czar– the billion-dollar contract was modified to disburse 195,000 million pesos to the CCC as an advance profit, without a single brick being laid.

And after complaining that she was denied access to documents of the millionaire project –initially valued at 1.59 trillion pesos–, she requested that control entities investigate the changes made to the government-to-government agreement that was signed in December 2020, during the administration of Iván Duque.

And EL TIEMPO established that an investigation into possible patrimonial damage will be requested because the Ministry will have to occupy other offices.

In fact, this newspaper established that entities close to the Defense sector are quoting the purchase and/or lease of several square meters to accommodate themselves while it is defined what will happen in the large vacant lot where the CAN was located.

In parallel, an investigation is underway to determine if there are officials within the Ministry responsible for the failure of the ‘Fortaleza Project’ and for the country being on the verge of a lawsuit.

In this regard, Cambio magazine collected statements from Antoni Rizk, CCC’s business director, in which, in addition to saying that the Ministry of Defense is disregarding international obligations contracted by Colombia, he blamed Hugo Mora, former general secretary of that ministry, for obstructing the deal.

Mora’s name has gained relevance because he is one of those indicted by the Prosecutor’s Office in the investigation into irregularities in the millionaire contract for the repair and maintenance of Russian MI-17 helicopters. In that case, the contract signed during Iván Velásquez’s era for 32.4 million dollars also had to be canceled, and now charges are being sought against the representatives of the contracted companies Vertol System and MI Series Personnel & Parts LLC.

Mora, who has declared himself innocent in the MI-17 case, told EL TIEMPO –through his lawyer, David Gómez– that when he arrived at the ministry, the contract was already signed and in process, and that when he left, it had not been completed.

EL TIEMPO located Mouktar Abdillahi, CCC spokesperson, in Ottawa, Canada, who is coordinating the legal actions that would be taken against Colombia. But by the close of this edition, he had not answered whether they were already underway.

Now, without a fixed headquarters, several offices will be distributed in public buildings, and EL TIEMPO established that the possibility of Mindefensa and the Army moving to the El Pedregal project is being explored, by the firm Aldea Proyectos on 100th Street with 7th Avenue, which is undergoing a reorganization process at the Superintendence of Corporations.

The Retirement Fund of the Military Forces (Cremil) has 19,000 m² in a tower, and the idea is to make another 10,000 m² available for part of the defense sector to settle there.

Colonel (ret.) Freddy Calixto Monroy, director of Cremil, told this newspaper that “the idea is for the space to be leased to generate resources that leverage the payment of assignments for retired military personnel and for the Ministry to buy the rest of the tower with funds allocated to the ‘Fortaleza Project’.”

(Consult all articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit here)

EL TIEMPO officially asked the Ministry about that proposal and whether the CCC’s lawsuit was already underway, but by the close of this edition, there had been no response.

INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

u.investigativa@eltiempo.com

@UinvestigativaET

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