2023-06-18 07:31:22
In a few years, the lawyer Miguel Ángel del Río has become the defender of popular causes on social networks, a kind of legal influencer. Thus, he became an enthusiast of the postulates of the Historical Pact and the cases he represents follow that line: defender of Juan Guillermo Monsalve —key witness against former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez—, of Aida Merlano, of Daniel Mendoza —Matarife—, and others. Now he is in the crossfire with prosecutor Francisco Barbosa for the death of Colonel Óscar Dávila, which he described as a suicide just 20 minutes after the news broke, without first mentioning that he had received 50 million pesos in cash that day. of the official
Bogotá lawyers describe Miguel Ángel del Río as a studious type, owner of a sharp dialectic, “his work was very much at the base of social movements, surely because he saw a great opportunity there. In addition, he himself takes care of his social networks, studies them, moves them. If he has become like the other face of lawyers who seem like activists, like Abelardo de la Espriella, obviously the two are in very different, adverse political currents ”.
It is clear that with the case of Colonel Dávila, Del Río acted hastily, posting a quick version of the facts on Twitter and Instagram, implanting what could be called a legal truth: “Yesterday I met with Colonel Dávila, who told me He sought to tell me that the Prosecutor’s Office was threatening him. They warned him that they would not stop ‘until he shed blood’. Today he took his own life with his crew weapon. The Prosecutor’s Office is an infamous persecution.”
Five days later, when the payment of the 50 million pesos that Colonel Dávila paid him for his defense became known, the lawyer accepted that it was a quick guess, since there is no consistency in that a man who plans his legal defense, and who pays for her, also plan her suicide. However, it must be taken into account that in Colombia since the Colmenares Case —in the United States since the OJ Simpson case—, the trials are not only a staging of the courts, they are also a media pulse that from the media and networks installs versions and pressures.
It may interest you: The Prosecutor’s Office announced when it will deliver the final results of the investigation into the death of Colonel Dávila
The trills are not random in times of influencer lawyers —influencer journalists, influencer politicians. Among the latest ideas left by the Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman is that social networks are not a community, they are a closed relationship in which people talk in a closed circle about our ideas, our prejudices. Thus, the one who trills is not looking for dialogue but a megaphone, to install a truth. He applies, in this case, to the right and to the left.
The story of lawyer Del Río is almost inspirational. He is from Barranquilla, his father worked in the public sector and had several political friends who helped him get into positions in different mayors’ offices; He studied Law at the University of the Coast, and according to what he has said, he had to work in call centers to pay for the semesters. He later became a flight attendant, aided by his refined manners, his stature and his figure. After graduating he traveled to Bogotá, where he tried in every way to join a good law firm, but to no avail. He sneaked into master’s classes, despite not being enrolled, that way he made sure to learn and update himself.
In life there are those who are lucky enough to stumble upon a lucky stone, and Miguel Ángel del Río had that chance. It was he who managed to unmask Silvia Gette, former rector of the Autonomous University of Barranquilla, who murdered the rancher Fernando Cepeda, husband of her stepdaughter, but who had cleverly set up a ruse to make her own stepdaughter, María Paula Ceballos, appear guilty. His name then spread with fame along the coast, he was the hero who had unleashed a tremendous soap opera.
From there he jumped to investigate the unpunished murder of Carlos Rodríguez Pomar, son of the so-called vallenato tailor, Carlos Rodríguez Gómez. Del Río had access to the interventions of the communications made by the Prosecutor of José Hernández Aponte (el Ñeñe), there the voices and mentions of Marquitos Figueroa and Kiko Gómez appeared, and a criminal network of favors, homicides and vote buying were revealed . This was the chapter known as the Ñeñepolítica, in which the purchase of votes in La Guajira was investigated and which involved the campaign of former president Iván Duque. This was the case that brought the lawyer closer to the Historical Pact and to the now president Gustavo Petro.
During those years, Del Río —who has always been a generous lawyer with the press— gave interviews everywhere explaining this arrival of money to Duque’s campaign; he supported his strategy in social networks, became visible and gained popularity, which gave revenues after a few months. Now we are talking about a successful lawyer who, according to what he himself said referring to the case of Colonel Dávila, can charge up to 500 million pesos for a defense of that size, complicated as that.
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