Alfredo Saade assures that the Government is ready to sign the agreement with Portugal for the issuance of passports.

Chief of Staff Alfredo Saade announced in a tweet that the government is ready to sign an agreement with Portugal to implement the new passport issuance model.

“We are ready to sign with Portugal. After technical meetings, everything is agreed upon,” he wrote on his X account.

This announcement goes against what has been said by the Attorney General's Office, outgoing Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia , and the Portuguese government itself, with which, according to Saade, the agreement is already about to be signed.

Regarding the Attorney General's Office, the entity disputes the government's decision and has stated that the National Printing Office is not prepared to handle the issuance of the booklets.

The entity ordered two preventive inspections of the Foreign Ministry and the National Printing Office to verify the execution of the passport printing procedures. These procedures have been carried out by the firm Thomas Greg, but President Gustavo Petro wants to transfer them to the National Printing Office with the help of the Portuguese government.

High-ranking sources from the Attorney General's Office told this newspaper that the opinion they will draft for Attorney General Gregorio Eljach is intended to indicate that the National Printing Office does not have the capacity to print the document as of September 1, the date on which the one-year extension granted to the Thomas Greg company expires.

At the disciplinary level, the first actions in this new chapter of the passport case have already begun to emerge. Around noon on Wednesday, the Disciplinary Investigation Chamber explained, point by point, the alleged errors committed by former foreign ministers Laura Sarabia and Luis Gilberto Murillo , and Alfredo Saade, which, if proven, could lead to disqualification.

The outgoing chancellor herself requested the administrative visit to the Foreign Ministry on March 5, with the aim of "ensuring the transparency, legality, and proper execution of this process."

"From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we reiterate our commitment to institutional strengthening and transparent public procurement. We will provide all the required collaboration and duly address all requests from the Public Prosecutor's Office within the framework of this preventive action," the agency stated.

They added: "This monitoring process is being carried out in accordance with Article 24 of Decree Law 262 of 2000 and Resolution 456 of 2010, which allow the Attorney General's Office to act preventively in matters related to government contracting."

Today, a document was released that Sarabia sent on July 7 to Attorney General Gregorio Eljach, outlining the key meetings for implementing the agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Portugal.

"In response to what was reported in the preventive surveillance diligence that was carried out today at the facilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , in relation to the implementation of the new model for issuing passport books and travel documents, from this portfolio we allow ourselves to present the actions carried out during the last five (5) months, as well as the three (3) possible scenarios that could be developed to guarantee the continuity of the provision of the service," reads the letter sent to Eljach.

The traceability report submitted by Sarabia revealed a meeting with Portugal on the new model on March 7, 2025. It also revealed the creation of the Operational Committee for the Implementation of the New Model for Passport Books, Travel Documents, and Visas (COEP), on March 25. The first meeting was on April 9, and there were six in total.

In a letter dated June 26, the Portuguese Embassy in Colombia reported the signing of the agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the production of passports.

In the document, revealed by W Radio, they indicate that the terms of the trade agreement were agreed upon in December 2024, when Luis Gilberto Murillo was still in charge of the Foreign Ministry.

"On February 26, 2025, the Government of Portugal approved the terms of the aforementioned trade agreement through its publication in the official gazette , albeit two months later than originally planned," the letter reads.

Within the traceability framework, they also point out that, at the beginning of March 2025, when Laura Sarabia was already in office as Foreign Minister, a high-level delegation from the National Printing House–Casa da Moeda of Portugal and its French counterpart, a partner in this project since its inception, traveled to Bogotá to sign the trade agreement and begin the configuration work, so that the new solution would be operational by September 1.

"To this end, discussions were held with the main suppliers involved in the project, especially those of the customization and paper equipment , with the aim of pre-reserving factory time with these suppliers and ensuring deliveries in order to meet the September 1 deadline," they note.

And they add: “ From March 6 to 7, 2025, during various meetings with the new Foreign Ministry team, we were informed that there were some reservations regarding the model designed by their predecessors, highlighting the following points: (i) the legal framework should be an international inter-administrative agreement; (ii) the allocation of future budgets for the entire 10-year contract period should be provided for.”

They also stated that these were the main topics discussed during the visit and that in May, two roundtables, one legal and one technical, where working groups met, were suspended.

"With regard to the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (National Printing House), we have always expressed our commitment and availability to assist in analyzing anything the Colombian government considers valuable, but we have only been called to clarify any doubts. To date, we are unaware of, nor have we been involved in, discussions of a more strategic nature , such as, for example, what solutions could be explored," they added.

The Portuguese Government's view is that they are at an impasse that can be overcome with one approach: " It is necessary for the Colombian Government to provide us with an estimated date on which the necessary conditions for the signing of the international inter-administrative agreement can be met , as well as whether they intend to maintain the watermark and designs approved by the previous team (except for minor adjustments that do not structurally alter them).

Maria Alejandra Gonzalez Duarte