Colombia’s national fire director lasted 26 days. On Saturday 3 October 2026, Germán Miranda lost his post after President Abelardo de la Espriella asked for his removal on X, with Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara confirming it minutes later. De la Espriella said he had learned of facts “of the utmost gravity.” He didn’t say what they were.
The Government’s Case
Lara offered a little more detail. He cited signs of an alleged attempt to keep evidence from reaching the Fiscalía, the Attorney General’s Office that brings criminal cases. He didn’t identify the evidence, and officials haven’t clarified since.
De la Espriella set a hard standard. “The mere suspicion of irregular conduct” would be enough to demand an official’s exit, he wrote. He added that in his government, “there will be no leniency” toward conduct that compromises transparency, La República reported.
The move came quickly. Lara said officials had “declared [Miranda] insubsistente on the spot,” according to Infobae. That declaration cancels a discretionary appointment and doesn’t require a disciplinary ruling first.
What the Reports Allege
El Tiempo, Semana and La FM published excerpts of recordings in which Miranda allegedly discussed a prosecution involving Bernardo Morales, the Envigado fire commander near Medellín. Infobae, citing El Tiempo, reported that Miranda allegedly sought money in exchange for steps before prosecutors. La FM noted the excerpts alone don’t prove obstruction. Nobody has authenticated the recordings.
A separate matter remains at the Contraloría, the Comptroller General’s Office. Infobae, La Opinión and Diario La Libertad reported an audit case with an alleged loss initially put at COP 115 million, or about US$35,000 at 3,312 pesos per dollar, the 2 October close. Diario La Libertad said it concerns a contract between the directorate and a network of higher education institutions. Miranda rejected the case as persecution in August, Semana reported. It has produced no finding.
Questions about his credentials surfaced too. La Opinión and Infobae reported that the directorate’s administrative staff had questioned whether Miranda met degree and experience requirements. That opinion became public when he took the post. El País and La República reported he had more than 20 years in the national fire system, and he had previously led the directorate under President Juan Manuel Santos, whose term is given as 2010–2018.
Fires Burning, Chair Empty
The timing matters. Lara swore Miranda in on 7 September as crews battled forest fires in several departments. El País of Cali reported 21 active fires that day across Tolima, Cauca, Vichada, Norte de Santander, Valle del Cauca and Nariño. Large burns hit Tolima in August and the hills above Villa de Leyva in Boyacá in September.
Municipal and volunteer brigades handle day-to-day firefighting. The directorate coordinates them and channels national support. By Saturday afternoon, reports named no interim head.
This isn’t the first abrupt departure at the top. On 8 April 2025, then-president Gustavo Petro declared director Lourdes Peña del Valle insubsistente over contracting concerns, Asuntos Legales reported. That was about one year and six months before this latest removal.
Miranda hadn’t responded publicly in the coverage reviewed. Whether the Fiscalía will open an inquiry into his removal on these grounds remained unclear.
Why This Matters: Two directors have now left the same agency abruptly, each under a cloud of contracting or conduct concerns, and the post is vacant again during an active fire season. From a fiscal and institutional standpoint, the discretionary appointment system let the government act within minutes, but the public still has only partial allegations to weigh: unauthenticated recordings, an audit case with no finding, and a minister who hasn’t specified his evidence. Taxpayers and the brigades that do the actual firefighting need a stable, accountable directorate. Whether the Fiscalía and the Contraloría test these claims through formal process will decide whether this was accountability or merely speed.