Mayor’s Arrest a Watershed for Anti-Corruption Crusade

To Americans stunned by Washington Mayor Marion Barry’s wrongdoing, the arrest of the mayor of the Colombian capital might seem unimpressive. But in its own way, the case represents a watershed for Colombians, who are accustomed to seeing certain politicians evade a range of charges--from vote-buying to drug-trafficking.

Colombia’s worst political scandal in recent years began here March 24, when a judge issued an arrest warrant for Bogota Mayor Juan Martin Caicedo. He was charged with misappropriating almost $3 million.

But even more surprising than the warrant for his arrest was Caicedo’s decision to comply with it; he neither verbally attacked the judge nor fled the country.

“People who go through situations like this one have to resolve a dilemma--pack the bags and run or confront justice with one’s head held high,” Caicedo told reporters shortly before turning himself in March 29.

Despite his effort to stand tall, Caicedo looked to many like a chastened schoolboy when he was taken to a Bogota police training facility, where he is to remain while his case is decided.

Private polls showed that more than 75% of Bogota residents surveyed thought that Cesar Tulio Lozano, 37, the federal criminal judge in the case, had done his duty by jailing the mayor. But Lozano did not stop with imprisoning a powerful official. He also launched an investigation of 40 city council members for allegedly receiving money dispensed by Caicedo.

At issue are the discretionary sums, or auxilios , that elected officials--both at national and local levels--traditionally have counted on to preserve their political power. Although the public money was meant to support social projects by nonprofit groups, much of it wound up financing political campaigns--or lining corrupt politicians’ pockets.

The new Colombian constitution, which took effect last July 4, seeks to halt political corruption, in part by changing the way public money is disbursed.

But just one day before the constitution took effect, Caicedo signed an order giving Bogota council members about $75,000 each under the old, lax system.

His defenders note that Caicedo ended up with none of the money himself. But even they concede that his action was a cynical attempt to curry council members’ favor. His crime, they say, was failing to recognize that such behavior would no longer be tolerated in President Cesar Gaviria’s more democratic “new Colombia.”

“What Caicedo did shows more stupidity than corruption,” said an official close to Gaviria.

But some Colombians fear that Caicedo’s detention launches a campaign against politicians, that it will frighten them so much that they will not even allocate money, properly and legally.

“After what happened to Juan Martin Caicedo, few officials dare to sign decrees ordering expenditures,” Semana magazine said.

Many officials discount such dire predictions, saying that only the truly corrupt need fear.

But others say Caicedo’s detention is just the beginning. “If the judge follows the same logic, many council members will also find themselves in jail very soon,” said a senior official.