Rodrigo Lara reported that he had filed a reform against the so-called "mermelada," which he described as the assignment of regional projects without transparency about who requested them, why they were approved, or what was obtained in return. The author argued that congress members should be able to manage investments for their regions, but proposed that each project they presented be recorded in a public registry. He also suggested distinguishing between conflicts of interest: one, he said, would occur when the congress member, their family, or their partners received a particular benefit; another would correspond to the public representation of the legitimate interests of a region or sector. Lara noted that congress members should transparently declare their ties with sectors that financed their campaigns and stated that the reform would allow for the regulation of lobbying in Colombia. He added that, in his view, the lack of a law on the matter was due to congress members' fear of losing their position for listening to and processing sectoral interests. He also maintained that under the current government, everything was done openly and called for all management to be declared and made known. #LeyAntiMermelada #Reforma #Transparencia #Desarrollo (translated)
