De la Espriella Fires Official Who Denied Petro-Era Data Manipulation
President Abelardo de la Espriella removed Ricardo Valencia from his position as director of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) just 26 days after he took office. The departure came after the official publicly stated that he had found no anomalies in the economic indicators for July, the final month of Gustavo Petro’s administration, […]
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella recently fired Ricardo Valencia, the director of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), 26 days into his tenure. The official was dismissed after publicly stating that he found no anomalies in the economic indicators from July, the final month of former President Gustavo Petro's administration.
Valencia's resignation comes amid controversy surrounding DANE's independence and the handling of official information under the new government. The President insists that Valencia rushed to defend the data's integrity without conducting thorough audits and also failed to follow guidelines for official communications. Former DANE directors and opposition figures argue that the episode could compromise the technical autonomy and credibility of Colombian statistics.
The government maintains that DANE's technical independence will be upheld, but stresses the importance of a rigorous review of the information to ensure it accurately reflects the country's reality.
Written by urgent.news from Colombia One's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
