BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — An anti-corruption referendum in Colombia drew millions to the polls Sunday but fell just short of a required participation threshold to push forward measures aimed at improving transparency and stiffening penalties for white-collar criminals.

Nearly 11.7 million Colombians cast ballots overwhelmingly in favor of seven initiatives proposed to stamp out corruption in the upper echelons of power, failing to draw the 12.1 million voters needed to pass the initiatives, according to quick-count results from over 99 percent of polling stations.

Proponents nonetheless hailed the higher-than-expected turnout as a forceful message from citizens: Enact laws now that put an end to special privileges for lawmakers and make public spending more efficient.

“This historic vote, this decisive victory by free citizens, gives a clear and strong mandate to the government and congress,” said Claudia Lopez, a former senator and vice presidential candidate spearheading the referendum.

The referendum included questions like whether to hand down tougher penalties on corrupt officials who now often serve out sentences in multi-million dollar homes; whether term limits should be imposed on lawmakers, and whether the salaries of members of Congress should be reduced by 40 percent.

Colombian law currently sets senators’ salaries at about $124,000 per year, more than what parliamentarians make in countries like Holland, Sweden and France.

Most Colombians agree corruption is a plague that needs to be exterminated, but not everyone agreed that a vote was the best way to do so. The referendum was boycotted by judges over fears it would lead to wage cuts in the judicial branch since a law states salaries for top magistrates should be the same as those of lawmakers.

“We already have lots of anti-corruption laws,” Hermens Lara, a Bogota municipal judge who is director of the Board of Judges and Magistrates of Colombia, said before the vote. “The problem is implementing them.”

Newly elected President Ivan Duque and most of Colombia’s main political parties backed the measure, but did little to promote it or to lure voters to the polls.

Some experts questioned whether the changes would do anything to curb corruption elsewhere, such as within the judiciary or police.

“Some of the proposals have no impact on corruption,” said Marcela Anzola, a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank. Still she said that passage would “give greater legitimacy to anti-corruption initiatives and send a strong message to politicians.”

According to Colombia’s inspector general, corruption in the country is equivalent to 4 percent of gross domestic product each year. One recent study by Transparency International found that 63 percent of companies in Colombia feared losing business if they did not engage in bribery.

That face of corruption in Colombia marks a stark change from the days when cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar was elected to Congress and his rivals in the Cali Cartel helped elect a president. Just a little over a decade ago, scores of congressional members were also charged or investigated for ties to right-wing paramilitary groups.

But today, experts say the biggest threat comes from white-collar criminals.

One example is the expansion of an oil refinery in Cartagena, which ended up costing more than double its projected $3.3 billion price tag due to what authorities described as mismanagement and graft by officials who were in cahoots with contractors.

The referendum would have given Colombia’s Congress a year to pass legislation implementing the proposals or force Duque to do so by decree.

The measures needed approval from 12.1 million voters — or roughly a third of the 36 million registered voters. Turnout in the country’s recent presidential election barely reached 50 percent, while a 2016 referendum on a peace deal with leftist rebels to end a half century of fighting barely drew 13 million votes.

Lopez said she began to push for the referendum after Congress repeatedly rejected anti-corruption bills that her party had proposed.

“Corrupt politicians will never vote to place limits on themselves,” said. “That’s why this referendum is the best tool we have to tackle corruption.”

Lopez and her supporters tried to overcome voter apathy with the help of a famous satirist, recording a campaign video that shows Lopez and a handful of middle-aged congressmen dressed up as reggaeton singers who riff that corruption is the “cancer of Colombia” and must be stopped.

Julian Ramirez, an 18-year-old political science student in Bogota, said he has been campaigning for the anti-corruption referendum since last year, when activists collected 4 million signatures to get officials to fund the vote.

“Fighting corruption should be something we can all unite under,” Ramirez said. </s> Por decisión unánime de 7 votos contra cero, la Corte Constitucional zanjó el debate al rededor del cobro de un impuesto del 5 por ciento a productos de higiene femenina como los tampones y las toallas higiénicas.



La Corte avaló la ponencia de la magistrada Gloria Ortiz, quien estuvo a favor del demandante en que este impuesto era regresivo y que iba en contra de la igualdad y la equidad, pues se estaba gravando un producto de necesidad básica de las mujeres, lo que les impone una carga tributaria solo por el hecho de nacer mujeres. Ese impuesto quedó establecido en la reforma tributaria del 2016, que bajó el gravamen que tenían las toallas, tampones y protectores del 16 al 5 por ciento. Este miércoles declaró inasequible el artículo que le pone impuestos a esos productos.

"Esa norma viola el derecho a la igualdad ya que quedaron gravados algunos bienes de primera necesidad para las mujeres colombianas. Las ciudadanas de este país serán gravadas con IVA, solamente por el hecho de haber nacido bajo el sexo femenino", había expresado en su momento Danilo Andrés Virviescas, analista de comercio exterior, quien demandó la ley 1819 del 2016 de reforma tributaria.



Aunque el impuesto que en su momento se impuso a esos productos generó debate, en el proyecto de Ley de Financiamiento, que en estos momentos se tramita en el Congreso, las compresas higiénicas y tampones quedarían exentas de IVA.



Los principales argumentos por los que la Corte falló a favor de quitar este impuesto fueron que las toallas y tampones se relacionan con la dignidad de las mujeres y otras alternativas de higiene femenina son mucho más costosas. Además de que es un producto que solo es consumido por mujeres, lo que genera una discriminación indirecta.

Las toallas y tampones son productos insustituibles para mujeres de escasos recursos económicos en la actualidad, se relacionan con la dignidad de las mujeres y otras alternativas son más costosas FACEBOOK

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Según la magistrada Ortiz, "este es un producto insustituible para mujeres de bajos recursos en los momentos actuales, esto no significa que el legislador en el futuro no pueda hacer una análisis sobre las situaciones o avances en la tecnología en materia de salud o higiene para las mujeres”.



Añadió que la medida era necesaria pues en muchos lugares del mundo las mujeres incluso “no pueden ir al colegio o al trabajo en los momentos en los que se encuentran menstruando”.



Al debate habían llegado conceptos como el de la Procuraduría, que se había mostrado a favor del impuesto del 5 por ciento para toallas, tampones y protectores.

Para el Ministerio Público la diferencia entre hombres y mujeres en este asunto es relevante porque "los sujetos no pertenecen al mismo género, y en consecuencia no son comparables en lo atinente a la norma acusada, por lo cual en este aspecto la diferencia de trato es constitucionalmente válida".



En su concepto enviado a la Corte, la Procuraduría afirmó que distinto sería si existiera un bien de primera necesidad utilizado solo por miembros del género masculino, que hubiera sido objeto de un tratamiento tributario marcadamente diferente al ítem de toallas y tampones. Con lo que, según ese organismo, el impuesto sería desigual si a un producto de necesidad básica masculino no se le hubieran cobrado impuestos.



Mientras que en la otra orilla del debate estaba la Defensoría del Pueblo, también un organismo de control y que pedía tumbar ese tributo considerándolo discriminatorio.



En su concepto enviado a la Corte, ese organismo aseguraba que el impuesto a toallas y tampones es discriminatorio ya que "gravar estos bienes implica incrementar su costo y, por tanto, reducir la posibilidad de acceso de los mismos, en particular para las mujeres y niñas con menos capacidad adquisitiva".



La Defensoría también argumentó que este impuesto impacta en el derecho a la salud de las mujeres, educación y participación social, e incrementa la brecha de género dándole más garantías a la población masculina, lo que desconoce los compromisos del Estado para eliminar estas diferencias. Por eso le había pedido a la Corte que le ordenara al Congreso eximir a las mujeres de este gravamen.

JUSTICIA </s> BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombians are voting Sunday in a first-of-a-kind referendum that aims to curb corruption in a country where white-collar criminals are fast replacing drug gangs and paramilitary groups in penetrating the upper echelons of power.

The referendum seeks to slash the salaries of Colombia's Congress members and to bring laws that make public spending more efficient and transparent.

But while most Colombians agree that corruption is a plague that needs to be exterminated, some believe putting it to a vote is not the best way to do so.

The referendum has been boycotted by Colombia's judges over fears it will lead to wage cuts in the judicial branch since a law states that salaries for top magistrates should be the same as those of Congress members.

"We already have lots of anti-corruption laws," said Hermens Lara, a Bogota municipal judge who is director of the Board of Judges and Magistrates of Colombia. "The problem is implementing them."

Newly elected President Ivan Duque and most of Colombia's main political parties say they back the measure, but they have done little to promote it or to lure voters to the polls.

Voters on Sunday will be asked seven questions that include whether to hand down tougher penalties on corrupt officials who now often serve out sentences in multi-million dollar homes; whether term limits should be imposed on lawmakers, and whether the salaries of members of Congress should be reduced by 40 percent.

Colombian law currently sets senators' salaries at about $124,000 per year, more than what parliamentarians make in countries like Holland, Sweden and France.

The measures focus on Congress and some experts question whether the changes would do anything to curb corruption elsewhere, such as within the judiciary or police.

"Some of the proposals have no impact on corruption," says Marcela Anzola, a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank. Still she said that passage would "give greater legitimacy to anti-corruption initiatives and send a strong message to politicians."

According to Colombia's inspector general, corruption in the country is equivalent to 4 percent of gross domestic product each year. One recent study by Transparency International found that 63 percent of companies in Colombia feared losing business if they did not engage in bribery.

That face of corruption in Colombia marks a stark change from the days when cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar was elected to Congress and his rivals in the Cali Cartel helped elect a president. Just a little over a decade ago, scores of congressional members were also charged or investigated for ties to right-wing paramilitary groups.

But today, experts say the biggest threat comes from white-collar criminals.

One example is the expansion of an oil refinery in Cartagena, which ended up costing more than double its projected $3.3 billion price tag due to what authorities described as mismanagement and graft by officials who were in cahoots with contractors.

The referendum would give Colombia's Congress a year to pass legislation implementing the proposals or force Duque to do so by decree.

Getting the minimum number of votes to make the results binding, however, is a tall order.

The measures need approval from 12 million voters — or roughly a third of the 36 million registered voters. Turnout in the country's recent presidential election barely reached 50 percent, while a 2016 referendum on a peace deal with leftist rebels to end a half century of fighting barely drew 13 million votes.

Campaigning for the referendum has been spearheaded by Claudia Lopez, a former senator and vice presidential candidate for the center-left Green Party.

Lopez said she began to push for the referendum after Congress repeatedly rejected anti-corruption bills that her party had proposed.

"Corrupt politicians will never vote to place limits on themselves," Lopez told The Associated Press. "That's why this referendum is the best tool we have to tackle corruption."

Lopez and her supporters have tried to overcome voter apathy with the help of a famous satirist, recording a campaign video that shows Lopez and a handful of middle-aged congressmen dressed up as reggaeton singers who riff that corruption is the "cancer of Colombia" and must be stopped.

Julian Ramirez, an 18-year-old political science student in Bogota, said he has been campaigning for the anti-corruption referendum since last year, when activists collected 4 million signatures to get officials to fund the vote.

"Fighting corruption should be something we can all unite under," Ramirez said as he walked around a central Bogota neighborhood handing out flyers.
The Constitutional Court of Colombia unanimously rules to strike down a five per cent tax on feminine hygiene products on gender equality grounds.