The written deposition is in the form of a questionnaire that must be answered by the mayor within 15 days. Under Colombian law, a deposition of this type may be demanded before an actual lawsuit is filed.

On February 1 of this year, Mayor Quintero fired Rendón, claiming poor management and imperiling the $2.8 billion USD lawsuit the mayor instigated against the contractors building the Hidroituango hydroelectric project undertaken by city-owned utility conglomerate EPM. However, according to Rendón in several interviews, the mayor fired him due to his resistance of the mayor, along with his private secretary Maria Camila Villamizar Assaf’s interference in EPM’s internal management, contrary to the established corporate governance framework that allows EPM to operate as a business without direct political operational control.

The judge also ordered testimony by EPM’s current board of directors, consisting of Bernardita Pérez Restrepo, Jorge Andrés Carrillo Cardoso, Jorge Iván Palacio, Omar Flórez Vélez, Pablo Felipe Robledo Del Castillo, Guillermo León Diosa Pérez, Gildardo Antonio Correa Salazar, and Olmer Orlando Palacio Garzón.

A day after EPM’s board resigned, the entire board of Medellín business incubator Ruta-N also resigned in protest of political meddling and alleged attempts to introduce political patronage into the entity’s civil-service merit-based personnel operation. Federico Arango Toro also resigned his board position representing EPM on joint telecom venture Tigo Une in protest.

Luis Fernando Rico, former general manager of another Colombian utility giant, Isagen along with Sandra Suarez, the general manager of Colombian weekly newsmagazine Semana both rejected Quintero’s appointments, joining Claro Colombia CEO Juan Carlos Archila and Grupo Santo Domingo’s Alberto Preciado.

So far the mayor has only found three people willing to serve on EPM’s board, none of them with corporate or utility backgrounds: Pablo Felipe Robledo is a former superintendent of industry & commerce of Colombia, something akin to the Federal Trade Commission in the US. Omar Flórez is a former mayor of Medellín from 1990-1992. Jorge Iván Palacio is a former president (presiding judge) of Colombia’s Constitutional Court.

With that paragraph (translated) terminating his short letter (full letter below), Federico Arango Toro resigned from telecommunications provider Tigo UNE’s board of directors after representing EPM’s interest as shareholder for the last 14 years.

Medellín Utility EPM once provided telecommunications services along with gas, electric, water and sanitation, but spun off its telecommunications operations in 2006 into a joint venture with global telecommunications operator Millicom, which operates under the Tigo brand name. This gave UNE (EPM’s telecommunications operations) the scale and technology platforms to stay competitive and deploy new technologies such as advanced mobile communications and fiber optic connectivity to residences and businesses.

EPM and Medellín’s sports & recreation utility INDER (Institute of Sports & Recreation) retain 50% + 1 share, with the rest belonging to Millicom corporate entities. Millicom is the operating partner of the joint venture. Until Sunday, Álvaro Rendón served as board member representing EPM’s interest.

Medellín Mayor Daniel Quintero has sparked something of a revolt in Medellín’s business community by allegedly interfering in the operations, governance and personnel decisions of several of Medellín’s institutions including the public utility EPM that generally is run at arm’s length from Medellín’s city hall and political infrastructure. The entire board (minus Mayor Quintero) resigned in protest of the Mayor’s repeated circumvention of the board of directors. This gained global attention as EPM owns and operates assets from México to Chile, and issues bonds on international capital markets. Fitch Ratings has already downgraded EPM’s credit rating in response to the turmoil, and some banks have refused to do business with the multibillion dollar utility.

One day after EPM’s board resigned in protest, the board of directors of business incubator Ruta-N resigned in protest, accusing the mayor of attempting to politicize the institution and appoint political friends, circumventing personnel and civil service policies.

This week, over 300 local entrepreneurs, business people and civil society actors signed a letter denouncing the mayor’s actions and governance, only 8 months into his term. When offered the opportunity to comment or respond, the mayor through his press representative declined comment for this article.

Federico Arango Toro renunciation letter from Tigo Une