Former governor of province with highest child mortality rate in Colombia arrested for stealing fund
Former governor of province with highest child mortality rate in Colombia arrested for stealing funds to curb child mortality
written by Jamie Vaughan Johnson March 10, 2017
The governor of the province with the highest child mortality in Colombia was arrested for embezzling funds meant to curb this child mortality rate.
Oneida Pinto, the sacked governor of the northern Guajira province was arrested on Wednesday in the capital Bogota on charges she embezzled $6.2 million in medical funds in one of the most heart-breaking corruption cases in recent history.
According to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, more than 4,500 children of the Wayuu, the native people of La Guajira, died of malnutrition in the past 8 years.
. . .
The Guajira peninsula, a desert area, has been plagued by malnutrition among children largely due to drought, systematic corruption in government, and the excessive use of water by the nearby Cerrejon coal mine.
Pinto’s predecessor is in prison after being convicted for a triple homicide.
http://colombiareports.com/governor-province-highest-child-mortality-rate-colombia-arrested-stealing-funds-curb-child-mortality/
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El Cerrejon mine, which was placed in the middle of their homeland.
