Aída Merlano

Aída Merlano
Member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia
In office
20 July 2014 – 3 March 2018
ConstituencyAtlántico Department
Member of the Department Assembly of Atlántico [es]
In office
2011–2014
Personal details
Born
Aída Merlano Rebolledo

(1980-12-21) 21 December 1980 (age 44)
Barranquilla, Colombia
Political partyConservative
EducationFree University of Colombia

Aída Merlano Rebolledo (born 21 December 1980) is a Colombian politician.

She was a member of the country's Chamber of Representatives for the Conservative Party for the 2014–2018 legislative term.

In September 2019, she was convicted of conspiracy, weapons possession, and electoral crimes in connection with her campaign for senator. On 1 October 2019, Merlano escaped from her guards while attending a dental appointment. On 27 January 2020, she was recaptured in Maracaibo by Venezuelan authorities.

Early life and political career

Aída Merlano was born in Barranquilla on 21 December 1980.[1] She took an interest in politics during childhood, making her debut as a civil leader in her hometown in 1991. She studied law at the Free University (though the newspaper El País later found that she never held a law licence).[1] She served as a member of the Department Assembly of Atlántico [es] from 2011 until her resignation in 2014.[1]

In 2014, she was elected as a member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia for Atlántico Department, serving until 2018.[1][2]

Conviction for electoral crimes

Merlano won a seat in the Senate of Colombia for the Conservative Party in the March 2018 parliamentary election. However, irregularities quickly surfaced.[3][4] Officials from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol raided her campaign headquarters a few days after the election, and found evidence of a "sophisticated voter buying network" in which payments of 45,000 pesos (US$14) were made to individual voters and tracked using QR codes.[5] Five campaign workers were arrested, and computers, cash, and four firearms were seized.[5] The Attorney General's Office asked the National Electoral Council to suspend Merlano's appointment as senator.[5]

On 19 April, she was detained in El Buen Pastor Prison [es] in Bogotá for the crimes of corruption of the electorate, conspiracy, weapons possession, and illicit possession of ID cards.[6][7] On 4 September, the Council of State declared her loss of investiture as senator, finding that she had spent 1.73 billion pesos (US$527,000) during the campaign, which far exceeded the limit of 884 million.[8]

The Supreme Court sentenced her to 15 years in prison in September 2019.[9][10]

Escape and recapture

On 1 October 2019, Merlano escaped from Colombian authorities.[11] She had an appointment with the dentist at La Sabana Medical Center, located north of Bogotá, in the morning, where she was transferred, accompanied by a guardian. At 3:00 pm, the administration of the medical center was informed of her absence.[11] According to a video issued by the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, Merlano descended from the third floor of the center by means of a rope tied to a table, riding away on a motorcycle driven by a man wearing badges for the home services company Rappi. This incident was widely covered in the media, and was described as a "movie escape".[12] The Colombian government established a reward of 200 million pesos (US$60,000) for information leading to her capture.[13]

On 27 January 2020, Merlano was captured in Maracaibo by Special Action Forces of the Venezuelan National Police, along with her romantic partner Yeico Manuel Vargas Silvera. Due to the position of the Colombian government on the presidential crisis in Venezuela, the request for Merlano's extradition was made by the Colombian Ministry of Justice to Juan Guaidó, and not to the government of Nicolás Maduro. As the latter was in control of the country's justice system, this left Merlano's fate unclear.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Aída Merlano, la heredera de la casa Gerlein que se cayó de la nube en la que andaba" [Aída Merlano, the Heir to the Gerlain House Who Fell From the Cloud on Which She was Walking]. El País (in Spanish). 6 October 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Así se movió el mapa electoral en las regiones" [This is How the Electoral Map Moved in the Regions]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 10 March 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  3. ^ Amorocho Becerra, Julián (15 March 2018). "Aída Merlano, la primera silla vacía del nuevo Congreso" [Aída Merlano, the First Empty Seat of the New Congress]. El Colombiano (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 December 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Aida Merlano presenta tutela y pide garantías en la Corte" [Aída Merlano Presents Guardianship and Requests Guarantees in Court] (in Spanish). Bluradio. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Velásquez Loaiza, Melissa (14 March 2018). "Investigan presunta red de compra de votos en Colombia" [Alleged vote-buying network in Colombia Investigated] (in Spanish). CNN en Español. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Corte ordena la captura de la representante Aída Merlano" [Court Orders the Capture of Representative Aída Merlano]. Semana (in Spanish). 6 April 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  7. ^ Doku, Kenji (19 April 2019). "Aida Merlano es enviada a la cárcel El Buen Pastor de Bogotá" [Aida Merlano is Sent to El Buen Pastor Prison in Bogotá]. El Heraldo (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Declararon pérdida de investidura de senadora Aida Merlano" [Loss of Investiture of Senator Aida Merlano Declared]. Vanguardia (in Spanish). 4 September 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Condenan a Aída Merlano a 15 años de cárcel" [Aída Merlano Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 14 September 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  10. ^ Bermúdez, Camilo (13 September 2019). "Corte Suprema de Justicia condenó a Aida Merlano a 15 años de prisión" [Supreme Court Sentences Aida Merlano to 15 Years in Prison]. El Heraldo (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  11. ^ a b "La insólita fuga de Aída Merlano, excongresista condenada por corrupción en Colombia mientras estaba en el dentista" [The Unusual Escape of Aída Merlano, Former Congresswoman Convicted of Corruption in Colombia, While She was at the Dentist] (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Huida de película: así se habría realizado la fuga de Aída Merlano" [Movie Escape: This is How Aída Merlano's Escape Could Have Been Made]. Publimetro Colombia (in Spanish). 1 October 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  13. ^ "A 200 millones se incrementa la recompensa por captura de Aída Merlano" [The Reward for Capture of Aída Merlano is Increased to 200 Million]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 16 October 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  14. ^ "La polémica petición del Gobierno a Guiadó para extraditar a Merlano" [The Controversial Request of the Government to Guiadó to Extradite Merlano]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 28 January 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2021.