Review “The Disaster of the Decent Ones” by Paula Bolívar

Abstract

At the time of writing these pages, two former ministers, two members of Congress, and several officials from the Petro administration are spending their days in different prisons and detention centers across the country, or are fugitives from justice. The reason? The largest corruption scandal of the current government: the embezzlement of funds from the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) and the use of those resources to buy off members of Congress. It is within this complex and chilling framework that the book “El desastre de los decentes” (“The Disaster of the Decent Ones”) by Paula Bolívar (2026) is situated, whose relevance emerges on two levels. First, because she herself conducted the investigation that exposed the entire corruption network and is the most authoritative voice to recount what happened firsthand. Second, because although corruption has become part of the landscape in Colombia, there remained hope that the ideas of change and transformation promoted by the government during its campaign would materialize into concrete actions against corruption. As the book shows, reality is far removed from those promises.