Talk:Juan Pablo Gallo

Is this a paid article?
By sheer coincidence I listened today (18. October 2019) in the radio a news piece about Juan Pablo Gallo, who is being accussed of running an active political campaign for a candidate to replace him when his term is over at the end of the current year (31. December 2019), as well as for several candidates to the city Council; the elections will be held next Saturday (27. October, 2019). Law in Colombia, whether they are elected or appointed, forbids the participation in campaigns by current administrators. Journalists from the radio station questioned him and played a recording of a telephone conversation of Mayor Gallo with somebody else who was supposedly helping his candidates in the name of their political group. Mr. Gallo did not deny he was the person in the recording and added: "“Pese a que el audio está editado, claro que reconozco mi voz y recuerdo la conversación con Luis Carlos Rúa, un amigo muy cercano que maneja mi página de Wikipedia." ("In spite of the fact that this audio is edited, of course I recognise it is my voice, I actually remember this conversation with Luis Carlos Rua, a very close friend who manages my Wikipedia page" emphasis added). The whole interview could be read here: Alcalde de Pereira reconoce su voz en delicada grabación.

What I gather from this news is that this page, created by ErreDeRua and practically all edited only by this user, is a paid biography. The same user has been the main editor of this page in the Spanish Wikipedia, which has more detailed information about the Mayor. My question is if this is a valid procedure. It is clear that the Mayor gains political benefits from this page that does not depict his drawbacks, only his positive side. He knows it and it is very candid when he says that Mr. Rúa "manages [his] Wikipedia page". I wonder if many other biographies from current, living, political figures, from Colombia and other Latin American countries as well, are utilising (misappropiating rather) Wikipedias as if they were were social media. This of course is corruption on the one hand and, I would say unethical use of the Wikipedia platform on the other. Lcgarcia (talk) 02:41, 19 October 2019 (UTC)