The warnings the printing house manager allegedly ignored about passport issuance: 'It's going to be a disaster'

Viviana León Herrera, the General Manager of Imprenta Nacional , was warned several months ago by several officials that in order for the company to take on the production of passports in partnership with the Portuguese Mint, it would have to restructure its infrastructure and internal procedures. Not only did she not listen to these suggestions, she decided to fire those who made them. "That will be the debacle," she was told.

The path now seems hopeless: the government, headed by President Gustavo Petro, who delegated the self-proclaimed pastor Alfredo Saade, no longer wants to see the Temporary Union, which includes Thomas Greg & Sons, produce the documents. It believes there were irregularities in the 2023 bidding process and does not want to reverse the implementation of the new scheme in September. In the coming hours, Saade said, the commercial contract with the Portuguese will be signed.

The decision led to the departure of Laura Sarabia, who resigned this Thursday due to decisions she said she did not agree with and that, " for personal consistency and institutional respect, I cannot support ."

Sarabia's team is clear on one point, and they made it clear to the Attorney General's Office in a seven-page response to a request from the oversight body: it is "unfeasible" for the Printing House to operate from September and complete a task of this magnitude.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at least 35 weeks are required for technology transfer and training by the Portuguese Mint .

Néstor Bojacá, president of the Printing Union, told EL TIEMPO that employees currently don't know what the learning curve will be like , which is now a little over eight weeks.

"It's necessary to be clear about what that learning curve will be like, so that we have both the technology and the knowledge to do things right," he commented. Bojacá denounced that the union has been excluded from the participation process surrounding the passport agreement. At the beginning of the year, the union found legal, technical, and financial shortcomings and even warned that the cost of passports could increase.

There must be a special security infrastructure, especially for technology, and today there is none.

The union member adds that, while the printing house has a security printing line, it needs to make accommodations that don't currently exist . "There needs to be a special security infrastructure, especially technological, and there isn't one today," he said.

This newspaper learned that between March and April, the Head of Planning, members of the legal team, and the deputy directors of administration and production warned Viviana León about the delicate situation if appropriate measures were not taken. All were fired.

“ He has replaced more than 10 people on his management team, he has removed them, and in truth he has even mistreated them ,” says Bojacá.

Some former officials who asked not to be named indicated that manager León was certain when she spoke with them that the printing house wouldn't need to make any investments. "The printing house isn't going to put in a single penny; Portugal will provide everything," she told them.

EL TIEMPO attempted to consult with the manager about the actions the organization has taken in preparation for the launch of the new passport scheme and to hear from her about the status of the Colombian printing press, but at press time, there was no response.

During a board meeting held on June 25th, led by Deputy Minister of the Interior Jaime Berdugo, it was unanimously agreed to delegate to General Manager León, in accordance with Article 8.8 of Law 109 of 1994, the definition of the most appropriate technology to strengthen the institutional mission . A technical advisory committee will also be created to support this decision, comprised of a representative from the Legislative branch, one from the Executive branch, and an employee appointed by the board of directors.

The Executive Branch assured that the transition to the new passport issuing operator will be "normal and smooth" and that the passport books (600,000, according to Saade) are available for the next six months.

The statements are unconvincing in various sectors. " The National Printing Office lacks the technical capacity or experience to handle the passport issuance process. The future of Colombians is at stake ," said the opposition, through Senator María Fernanda Cabal.

" Without an agreement with Portugal, without a production plant, the National Printing Office hasn't issued passports. The new scheme can't begin on September 1 ," said Senator Angélica Lozano.

For his part, former Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo , father of the construction of the new model, hinted that the administrative delays that occurred in recent months could jeopardize the issuance of passports: "If the agreed schedule had been followed as planned, this coming September, high-quality passport books would be being manufactured under a mixed, public-private, modern and transparent model, with a predominance of the public."

For lawyer Alexandra Lozano, "justifying the convenience of Portugal transferring technology so that an entity with no experience or technical capacity of any kind can learn in a very short time how to make, issue, and deliver travel books or passports, instead of hiring a company with proven capacity, suitability, and experience that has been doing it, knows how to do it, and is capable and willing to do it directly, does not seem so viable or easy to justify."

People who worked at the Printing Office until recently recall the poor record with the preparation of foreign identity cards, which resulted in compliance and document quality issues and resulted in the third party contracted for the process—the Mexican firm Accesos Holográficos—fighting with the Printing Office and Colombian Immigration.

Juan Pablo Penagos Ramirez