Eleven representatives of corregimientos who were protesting due to non-payment to their community boards reached several agreements after a closed-door meeting between councilors, the mayor of the Colón district, Diógenes Galván, the governor Julio Hernández, and the Presidency of the Colón Municipal Council. Ricardo Cerrud, representative of the Cristóbal corregimiento, described this meeting, organized by the Provincial Coordination Council, the mayor's office, and the governor of Colón, as “important.” “We were seeing that mistakes were being made based on the administration being carried out by the mayor,” he indicated. He added that some agreements were reached (which he did not disclose), where the representatives were emphatic that this type of action of transferring funds to some community boards and not to others cannot be allowed. Cerrud pointed out that in the end, the mayor made himself available to the representatives because he believed it was not a good action “that this was aired by third parties.” He added that the mayor committed to remedying this situation and wants to continue working, maintaining communication with the councilors so that these types of situations are not repeated. “Colón deserves that all its authorities agree and that we can move our province forward.” At the meeting, Governor Hernández indicated that differences are inherent to the democratic dynamic, but said they should not hinder the projects and services demanded by the citizenry. It was learned that both the mayor and the representatives of the corregimientos expressed their willingness to move towards a governance pact that will unblock administrative processes and strengthen inter-institutional coordination. At the meeting, they agreed to keep open channels of communication and continue working tables to follow up on pending issues, prioritizing development projects and concrete actions that will have a positive impact on the district.
