Bogota confirms mayor’s ouster

Reuters/Bogota

Petro appealed the December 9 decision, and has since rallied tens of thousands to central Plaza Bolivar to protest his removal from Colombia’s second-most powerful post and a 15-year ban from holding political office.

The nation’s chief inspector, Alejandro Ordonez, rejected the appeal, saying its disciplinary chamber had found him responsible for “three serious errors in the implementation of the new cleanup model in the city of Bogota.”

Ordonez removed Petro from office after ruling the mayor mishandled changes to garbage collection in the city of 8mn.

Ordonez said it created a health hazard as rubbish piled up on the streets in 2012.

Petro, a former member of the defunct M-19 rebel movement, claims his removal is a politically motivated coup by the right-wing Ordonez and a sign that Marxist FARC rebels would not easily be incorporated into the political system if ongoing peace talks are successful.

Talks between the Colombian government and FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, are currently being hosted in Havana, Cuba.

From his Twitter account, Petro called on Bogota residents to “permanently mobilise” against the decision.

Petro’s 2011 election as Bogota mayor was seen as proof that politics is the way forward for rebel movements.

FARC is working through a five-point agenda with the government to bring an end to 50 years of conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people.

FARC leaders have said the decision to fire Petro could affect the peace process in Cuba even after a November agreement was reached on the group’s inclusion into the Colombian political system.