The National Government removed the rector of the University of Antioquia, John Jairo Arboleda, from his position in a decision that was announced yesterday and it was harshly rejected by the Government of Antioquia, from where legal actions were anticipated to reverse it.
“Petro acts like a usurper. He has the bad habit of undertaking functions and powers that do not correspond to him, especially at the regional level, even knowing that everything is too big for him,” said the governor of Antioquia, Andrés Julián Rendón, comparing the measure with the interventions ordered by the National Government to other entities such as the EPS Savia Salud or the Comfenalco family compensation fund.
The removal was formalized through a resolution issued on November 29 and signed by the Minister of Education, José Daniel Rojas. In it, He held the leader of that institution responsible for not complying with the improvement obligations that that portfolio had ordered him in the middle of this year.
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As specified in the document, his replacement was appointed Héctor Iván García García, for a period of one year.
“Replace, for up to a period of one year, extendable only once, Mr. Jhon Jairo Arboleda Céspedes (…) in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 of article 13 of Law 1740 of 2014 and based on the motivating part of this administrative act, without prejudice to the administrative investigations and sanctions that may apply,” the resolution reads.
The details of the decision
Through a press release, the Ministry of Education argued that the removal of Arboleda would be part of an administrative procedure that would seek to “safeguard” the sustainability of that institution and guarantee its operation.
Although the measure was already made public, the ministry indicated that the rector’s departure would not be applied immediately, since it would only become final when it is formally notified.
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“In accordance with the current legal system, this administrative decision It does not produce legal effects until personal notification is provided to the interested party.. For this reason, the procedure is currently in the notification stage, which is carried out through the Subdirectorate of Relations with Citizens, in accordance with the established legal procedures,” said that portfolio.
In the resolution document, the Ministry broke down the reasons why it decided to behead the rector.
Firstly, the National Government argued that the university would have failed to comply with an improvement plan ordered from Bogotáwith which he was required put in order a series of administrative and financial irregularities.
Likewise, the Nation indicated that the UdeA had failed to comply with a financial sanitation plan, “aimed at correcting, purifying and adjusting your financial situationprioritizing the reversal of the structural deficit and the cash deficit evidencedso as to have a transversal impact on the processes of planning, programming, direction, execution, evaluation and control of institutional activities.
Thirdly, the Ministry asserted that Arboleda would have ““difficulted” from his position the surveillance work ordered from that portfolio, who appointed an inspector on sitewhich was strictly monitoring the expenses and administrative procedures in the alma mater.
For his part, Governor Rendón insisted on preparing legal resources to revoke the substitution, which he considered arbitrary.
“The Government of Antioquia will give the legal and academic fight to protect university autonomy and the missionary reason of the Alma Mater of the Antioquians“added the sectional leader.
Arboleda’s departure occurs in a heated environment for several months, precisely because of multiple rumors that suggested that the central government the university president would be being “tapped” by him.
At least since last August, as this newspaper recorded then, the institution began to draw attention to the fact that the Minister of Education, Daniel Rojas, changed his representative in the Superior Council and placed Daniel Torres Niño there, who served as his representative in Icetex and had generated controversy in that institute.
Congressmen such as Representative Catherine Juvinao then questioned Niño for allegedly carrying in tow complaints for alleged mismanagement in the entity.
It was also in the midst of these movements that the ministry appointed an inspector on sitea figure that had never been seen at the university and who also generated controversy for allegedly not having been properly notified to the rectory.
Another of the representatives of the National Government accused of being behind the pressure to remove Arboleda since last October was Wilmar Mejía, who was subsequently splashed in journalistic investigations that linked him to an alleged network between the State intelligence agencies and the FARC dissidents.
After the outbreak of that scandal, multiple instances within the university They demanded Mejía’s resignation from the Superior Council, a decision that he has refused.
The latest chapter of these tensions occurred this December, when the Ministry of Education issued an ultimatum and demanded that the university account for its improvement plans.
The Academic Council of the institution questioned the tone of that ultimatum and considered that “in addition to peremptory” would leave “open the possibility of sanctions and subsequent administrative decisions that, more than helping to resolve the crisis that afflicts us, “They generate a climate of anxiety.”
EL COLOMBIANO consulted with the University of Antioquia, from where they indicated be aware of the measure on behalf of the public pronouncements of the ministry. However, as of the publication of this article, The institution had not made a formal statement.
Who is the principal in charge?
Professor Héctor Iván García will be the rector in charge of the University of Antioquia after the decision to remove Arboleda from office. García is a professor linked to the UdeA as a teacher full time since 1995. He is a doctor and master in Public Health and Epidemiology at the National Faculty of Public Health.
The new rector in charge is affiliated with the Professors’ Association since I joined the University. Member of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine between 1997 and 2001. He is also the creator of the Working Group for the Faculty of Medicine. Active participant in the Curricular Renewal process of undergraduate medicine and in this, leader in the creation of the Health and Society chairs, which integrates social knowledge in the doctor’s learning, and the Clinical Epidemiology chair, which provides scientific elements for medical performance.
In addition to this, he is founder of the Urban Violence Research Group (1998) with researchers from EAFIT University, University of Caldas and faculties of Medicine, Nursing and Political Sciences. This group has maintained the Urban Violence chair in medical undergraduate courses for 21 years, dedicated to training and research with students on this problem in the country.
In addition, during 2016 he developed the Open Chair on the Havana Peace Agreements.
