"I apologize": the statement by the mayor of Catamarca discovered in the Caribbean after missing an event due to an alleged illness

Susana Zenteno , the mayor of Valle Viejo, a municipality of 35,000 inhabitants in Catamarca, spoke. She missed the May 25th event last week due to an alleged "illness," according to her team. However, it was later discovered that she was on vacation in the Dominican Republic.

" I never said I was sick . It created a huge conflict. I never thought this would cause so much trouble," the official said at the beginning of her statement on Telenoche. " I apologize; it's my responsibility ," she continued.

She then explained that, before embarking on her trip to the Caribbean, she had prepared a decree notifying the City Council that she would be absent. In that context, she said: "When it's less than 15 days and I traveled for six, there's no need to state the reason. I never said I was sick, nor did I say I was traveling because it was a private matter ."

Zenteno immediately asserted that the decree delegating the transfer of power had been issued. In his attempt to defend himself, he stated: "Due to an error on the part of my team, a problem arose: they didn't make me sign it. I take responsibility." Along the same lines, he again justified himself: "It was a mistake, an oversight. Sometimes we sign many documents at once ."

The mayor later addressed the statement released by her office to the City Council, which stated that Zenteno was unable to perform duties or attend the May 25th event due to a sudden illness. " The statement was made by my Secretary of Government," she noted.

When asked why the advisor had disclosed this version of her alleged illness when she was actually out of the country, the official responded evasively: "I went on a trip with my family, with my daughter who lives in Córdoba. So, I don't give my team information about where I'm going or where I'm not going when it's less than 15 days. This is the first time I've gone on a trip in six years ."

When hosts Nelson Castro and Dominique Metzger insisted during the report that the secretary "lied" by claiming illness to justify her absence, the mayor replied, " Talk to her ." She added, "The girls (referring to her team) are very worried and distressed. I am too, because I never imagined it would become so big over something so simple."

"There was a human error, I apologize to the people of Valle Viejo," Zenteno concluded.