by This March 15, the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, held a meeting with several political leaders to discuss the health reform bill, which will have multiple changes. In the photographs that were published of the meeting, the attendance of a participant stood out: José Luis Mayorca Castilla, the uncle of the president of the House of Representatives, David Racero.
Mayorca Castilla is an old acquaintance in the health sector. He was one of the partners of the Prestarsalud consortium, which had been awarded the sale of the now-defunct EPS Cafésalud, which in turn would become Medimás.
At the time, Mayorca Castilla starred in a bitter fight with other Prestarsalud partners who accused him of alleged irregular activities during the creation of Medimás. Among other things, they warned that he would have hidden information and would be exerting pressure to affect the good name of the then recently created EPS.
The alleged irregularities passed into the hands of the Prosecutor’s Office, who entered to investigate some contracts to care for cancer patients that EPS Cafésalud had entered into.
“A prosecutor from the Specialized Directorate against Corruption formally accused the former president of the disappeared Cafésalud EPS Guillermo Grosso Sandoval; and to the former representatives of two Health Provider Institutes (IPS), Luis Enrique Flórez Fontalvo and Jose Luis Mayorca Castilla, for alleged illicit acts in the management of health resources,” said the Prosecutor’s Office in a press release published on May 4 of last year.
The prosecution’s theory was that Grosso Sandoval would have agreed to receive 10% of the value of the contracts he signed with Flórez Fontalvo and Mayorca García.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Grosso Sandoval “signed three contracts with Mayorca Castilla. One for 110,826 million pesos, another for 37,631 million pesos, and the third for 48,294 million pesos.
electoral aspirations
The judicial entanglements in which Mayorca Castilla has been involved have not prevented him from being at the forefront of various electoral bets. In fact, in the 2014 legislative elections she ran as a candidate for the Senate with the Liberal Party.
In his campaign posters, he even highlighted his experience in the health sector and appeared in a doctor’s gown.
Now, on the verge of the local elections that will take place in October of this year, Mayorca Castilla launched himself as a pre-candidate for the Governor of Cesar. Apparently, he could also have the support of his nephew, David Racero.
“I am still the Broad Front, I still believe in President Gustavo Petro. We are going to request co-guarantee from the Alianza Verde, Liberal, UP, ASI, Polo Alternativo, Comunista parties, and all those movements to which the banner of change was handed over,” Mayorca Castilla assured during a press conference in which he referred to his candidacy for governor.
The appearance at the meeting of Minister Corcho
Due to the accusations against him and the political aspirations he has for this year, The appearance of Mayorca Castilla at the meeting of Minister Carolina Corcho and different political parties has caused a stir in public opinion.
Even more so, because the meeting on March 15 was absolutely key. Among other attendees was the president of the Liberal Party, César Gaviria, who has expressed multiple objections to the health reform presented by the national government.
To this extent, yesterday’s meeting had the objective of aligning the positions of the Liberal Party, which is part of the Government bench in Congress, and other allied communities of the Executive to promote a new version of the health reform that has success in Congress.
Sklaper contacted the Ministry of Health to find out what role Mayorca Castilla played in the meeting and if he has any formal link with that ministerial portfolio, but they have not yet shared information about it.
