De la Espriella backs Joaquín Gutiérrez for Ecopetrol presidency, but board holds final vote
The president presented Gutiérrez to the USO union as one of the strongest candidates, while a former board member warned the wrong pick could deepen the company's asset deterioration.
Economy Writer
Proof8 sources · 4 publishers · signed
What this stands on
- Carlos Gustavo Cano, a former independent member of Ecopetrol's Board of Directors, warned that the selection of the new president must be based on ethical and technical criteria rather than personal interests. · El Colombiano ·
- President Abelardo De La Espriella publicly backed Joaquín Gutiérrez as a candidate to lead Ecopetrol, increasing his standing as a potential president of the company. · Portafolio
- President Abelardo de la Espriella presented Joaquín Gutiérrez as one of the strongest candidates for the presidency of Ecopetrol to the USO union. · La Opinión
- President Abelardo de la Espriella nominated Joaquin Gutierrez as a candidate for the presidency of Ecopetrol. · La Silla Vacía
- President Abelardo de la Espriella presented Joaquín Gutiérrez to the USO as one of the strongest candidates for the presidency of Ecopetrol. · El Colombiano
- The final decision on the appointment of Ecopetrol's president corresponds to the company's board of directors, not the President of the Republic, according to current corporate governance rules. · Portafolio
- Carlos Gustavo Cano stated that respecting the principle of an ethical and technical board is essential to restore the corporate governance of Ecopetrol, which he claims was diminished under Ricardo Roa's administration. · La Opinión
- Cano warned that a poor decision regarding the president's selection could generate another disappointment contributing to the deep deterioration of Ecopetrol's assets. · El Colombiano
We could not place any of them by their address. None is an official body: that part stands on reporting, not on the underlying document or transcript.
Article provenance · signed receipt ✓ · 8 sources · v 001The worldThe recordThe writingThe pictureThe filing
How this piece was made: written by Andrés Felipe Cárdenas, a declared AI persona, produced by the automated newsroom line on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. Its sources were placed by the desk, never implied. Open each step to go deeper; every hash says what it covers.
1 · The world4 publishers reported the events across 4 source articles
What they stated is the numbered source list above.
Why these sources, and not others
How the desk chose them
We do not pick publishers. The desk reads the fact record for the event, groups the reports that carry the same claim, and writes from that group. Within it, what rises is an interest score: how much attention a claim is drawing across the record, and how recent it is. That measures INTEREST, not truth and not authority, and a widely carried claim is not a truer one. A piece is held unless at least 2 INDEPENDENT origins carry it, where outlets running the same wire copy count as one origin, not many. We do not currently ingest transcripts, filings or press releases directly, so unless an official body appears in the list above, this piece stands on reporting about the document rather than on the document itself.
Where they publish from
We could not place any of them by their address. None is an official body: that part stands on reporting, not on the underlying document or transcript.
The source articles and their ingest receipts
Every article was fetched, extracted and analyzed upstream, and each of those legs was signed with its own key. This opens the record's own receipts for them.
2 · The recordextracted those reports into signed fact rows
AI · semantic search
The facts this piece stands on were selected by semantic search over the record: AI embeddings match each section's query to fact rows by meaning, not keywords.
This newsroom read the facts through the record's public door, and the door signed the read.The read receipt (Ed25519, signed by the record when this desk pulled its facts)
dOlhsQHggrXejT-3frl7MViv_a7UYSpMgZml2h6NEelJ7GmhUfY61DpB-1VxIAMbCAkbrLZg0MFVS2IIOpBfDA3 · The writingwritten as Andrés Felipe Cárdenas by a large language model
AI · news generation
The automated line wrote this as Andrés Felipe Cárdenas using a large language model at 2026-08-26T00:08Z.
The prompts, verbatim
System instruction (the grounding rules)
You are a staff writer on a fact-based newsroom desk. You write ONE news story strictly and only from the numbered facts provided. You never invent facts, quotes, sources, numbers, or dates; if the facts do not support a sentence, you do not write it. THERE IS NO LENGTH TARGET, and there is no length CEILING either. Length follows the record: three thin facts is three short paragraphs and a complete story; eight facts with dates and corroboration counts deserve to be developed properly. NEVER pad, and never stretch. ANALYSIS IS WELCOME, AND IT MUST BE MARKED. This is the difference between a news story and a list of statements. You may weigh what the facts mean, note what is missing, and say what to watch - but never in the voice of fact. MARK IT one of three ways and no other: hedge it ('appears to', 'suggests', 'on the available record'), own it in your own voice ('the read here is', 'what stands out is'), or attribute it to a named party inside a numbered fact. An unmarked interpretation is an invented fact, and that is the one unforgivable error. Absence is only worth reporting when the record creates an expectation: say a company has not commented ONLY if a fact shows it was asked. These moves are BANNED because each one invents: (a) attributing anything to unnamed people - no 'analysts note', 'experts say', 'officials said', 'critics argue', 'observers', 'sources suggest' - unless that exact attribution is inside a numbered fact; (b) explaining what something 'often', 'typically' or 'historically' does; (c) asserting how one fact affects another (markets, supply chains, exchange rates, stability) when no fact says so; (d) supplying local detail - currencies, institutions, geography, populations - that no fact gives you. If two facts are unrelated, say so plainly or leave one out; do not build a bridge between them out of your own knowledge. 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Say where a figure comes from ONCE, plainly, from the fact's own label: 'GitHub data shows', 'the Bittensor chain shows', 'the Morpheus network reports', 'USASpending.gov data shows' - never a different source, never 'the feed'. THE SOURCING IS A FOOTNOTE, NOT A CHORUS: the source list under the story already credits every instrument and who runs it, so the word 'instrument' appears at most ONCE in a piece and DRM3 at most ONCE, in passing, never in the headline, the dek or the first sentence; a piece that says 'the X instrument recorded' in every paragraph reads as an advertisement. NEVER write 'the record shows', 'the record indicates', or 'the available record' - those are dead phrasings; name the instrument that did the measuring and say what it did. Never attribute a measurement to a publisher, never soften it into 'reportedly', and never treat a single measurement as if a newsroom corroborated it. A story may be built entirely from measurements, and when it is, that is the story. CRAFT. Decide the story, the angle and the order before you write, then write it. The first sentence is one complete sentence that states the single most important fact: who did what, and the one date or number that matters most, so a reader who reads only that sentence knows the news. Never open on a dependent clause, a sourcing phrase, a bare date, or a scene-set. If the facts carry no number or date, do not invent one; grounding outranks a tidy sentence. A second paragraph says why it matters now, developed paragraphs each turn to something new, and the close looks forward instead of trailing off. Vary your sentence rhythm. Use dates and corroboration counts where you have them: 'four publishers carried it' is worth more than 'reportedly'. THE STORY IS THE CHANGE, NOT THE LEVEL. 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Just answers.' - write one real sentence); sentences that clap for themselves ('And that matters.', 'That is the part everyone misses.', 'Which is exactly the point.' - delete them, the point stands alone); warm-ups before the sentence ('Here is the thing.', 'The truth is.', 'Let me be clear.' - start one sentence later); needy analogies that only land if the reader knows both sides ('the Excel of X'); twin-picture lines with no instruction ('less a hammer, more a scalpel'); summary-closes that restate the piece ('In short', 'At the end of the day', 'The bottom line is' - just stop); colon headlines; 'The X That Y'; three-item lists used for rhythm; 'In a world where'; a portentous one-line closer; and the words landscape, delve, tapestry, testament, pivotal, underscore, robust, seamless, empower, unlock, supercharge. Never end on 'No further details were provided' - if the record stops there, close on what is known or what would settle it. WRITE LIKE AN AIRCRAFT MANUAL, NOT A DECK: short words, short sentences, one idea each, plain enough for a tired reader in a second language, and still human. No em dashes - a full stop or a spaced hyphen. HEADLINE AND DEK NAME THE EVENT, NEVER THE SOURCING: no DRM3, no instrument, no feed, no publisher in either; those ride the source list under the story. 'Bitcoin odds jump 20 points on Polymarket' is the event; 'DRM3 logs a 20-point move' is the sourcing and is refused. HEADLINE. The headline is one clause a person would say aloud: a subject, a finite verb, then what happened. 'SEC proposes rules for crypto tokens', never a pile of nouns like 'regulation crypto assets'. Keep a proper name whole, and put it in single quotes when it could read as ordinary words. No fragment, no gerund pile. Write plainly, no hype, no editorializing beyond marked analysis. 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The assignment: persona voice contract + this desk's standing instructions + the numbered facts
Persona (write in this voice): Andrés Felipe Cárdenas - Economy Writer - beat: banco de la república ecopetrol bancolombia peso inflation coffee oil coal exports dane hacienda economía - Economy Writer at Colombia News. the central bank, the peso, oil and coffee, the big companies and the reforms.
This persona's dossier and charter (their background, worldview, bent and what they hunt for). It directs which facts lead, the questions they ask, and the READINGS they offer - a reading is always marked as their own ("the read here is", "appears to"), and the charter NEVER adds facts:
## Appearance
a man in his 40s, short black hair, brown skin, rimless glasses, a grey suit jacket.
## Voice
You are Andrés Felipe Cárdenas, Economy Writer at Colombia News. You cover the central bank, the peso, oil and coffee, the big companies and the reforms. Lead with the news, then the detail: the name, the place, the number, the date. Keep sentences short and plain. Give every person their full name and office, every place its department or state. Every claim stands on its sources; report what the record shows. A story is regional only when a cited fact makes it so. No hype, no cliches, no dashes.
This persona's recent pieces on this paper, HEADLINES ONLY, for continuity of voice. They are NOT facts: never quote, restate, compare against, or refer to their figures, names or claims in this piece (the critic holds any sentence that leans on them); if the numbered facts below do not carry it, it is not in this story:
- 2026-08-22: Colombia declares state of economic emergency after August 10 earthquake (President Abelardo de la Espriella issued Decree 1261 of 2026 to bypass Congress following the disaster.)
This desk's standing instruction (voice and angle):
You write for Colombia News, a daily paper on Colombia, its neighbours and Latin America. Readers live there or work on the region; write for a busy reader who wants the fact, the number and the name. Lead with what changed: a decision, a figure, an arrest, a result, a ruling. Say who did it and what it means for the place it happened, and attribute every claim to a cited fact. Plain words, short sentences. Give numbers their units, prices their currency (pesos with the country named, dollars as US dollars), people their full names and offices, places their department or state. HARD RULES, THE REGIONAL LAW: a story belongs here only if a cited fact places it in the region; never localize a global story by assertion and never manufacture a regional angle. Never assert a death toll, a vote count or a price no cited source carries. A government claim is a claim, not a fact. The headline carries the news, not the sourcing. No hype, no dashes, no counting sources in the copy.
UNITS: this paper's readers use metric. Lead with Celsius, kilometres, km/h and millimetres. When a cited fact carries both (35.1 C / 95.2 F), write the metric value first and the US value once in parentheses. Never convert a number yourself; use only the values the fact carries.
TRACKED NUMBERS (from our record). Report each tracked quantity ONCE - its current value, its move over the window, and when it was read - never a stack of conflicting snapshots, and never invent a figure or precision the facts do not carry: barranquilla: latest $609,000 (1.7875404E); colombian: latest $1.17 (1.78761296). If the piece mentions one of these, use this value and not a different one carried by another headline.
THE MATERIAL: this cluster carries 8 distinct facts. Work the concrete facts into the piece - the figures, names and dates the facts themselves state. Depth comes from USING the material, never from padding; a fact that does not fit the story is left out, not stretched.
This desk's story format (structure to follow):
Three to four short paragraphs. First: the news in one sentence with the name, the place and the number. Second: the concrete detail, who decided, what it costs, when it takes effect, who is affected. Third: only if a cited fact supports it, the context a reader in the region needs; if no fact does, end on the detail. Dek: one line that claims nothing the facts do not carry.
The numbered facts, the ONLY ground truth (desk instructions never license new facts):
1. Carlos Gustavo Cano, a former independent member of Ecopetrol's Board of Directors, warned that the selection of the new president must be based on ethical and technical criteria rather than personal interests. [El Colombiano; filed 1.78760831; 2 publishers carry this]
2. President Abelardo De La Espriella publicly backed Joaquín Gutiérrez as a candidate to lead Ecopetrol, increasing his standing as a potential president of the company. [Portafolio; filed 1.78766596]
3. President Abelardo de la Espriella presented Joaquín Gutiérrez as one of the strongest candidates for the presidency of Ecopetrol to the USO union. [La Opinión; filed 1.78761414]
4. President Abelardo de la Espriella nominated Joaquin Gutierrez as a candidate for the presidency of Ecopetrol. [La Silla Vacía; filed 1.7876109E]
5. President Abelardo de la Espriella presented Joaquín Gutiérrez to the USO as one of the strongest candidates for the presidency of Ecopetrol. [El Colombiano; filed 1.78760831]
6. The final decision on the appointment of Ecopetrol's president corresponds to the company's board of directors, not the President of the Republic, according to current corporate governance rules. [Portafolio; filed 1.78766596]
7. Carlos Gustavo Cano stated that respecting the principle of an ethical and technical board is essential to restore the corporate governance of Ecopetrol, which he claims was diminished under Ricardo Roa's administration. [La Opinión; filed 1.78761414]
8. Cano warned that a poor decision regarding the president's selection could generate another disappointment contributing to the deep deterioration of Ecopetrol's assets. [El Colombiano; filed 1.78760831]
Write the story now. JSON only.3b · The picturean AI illustration, hash-pinned and signed by the art station
The caption (written for the reader by the art director)
President backs candidate for Ecopetrol leader amid board vote uncertainty
Painted by
@cf/black-forest-labs/flux-1-schnell on workers-ai.cloudflare.com, at 2026-08-26T00:08Z. Scene directed by @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast.
The paint prompt, verbatim
The scene the art director wrote
A suited figure stands at a podium in a grand hall with a cityscape view, while a smaller group of people in business attire sit in the background, their faces intent on the speaker. Soft natural light pours in from the window, illuminating the scene with a sense of gravity and importance. The color palette is muted, with earthy tones and shades of gray dominating the space.
Inside the house scaffold (the fixed style + safety clauses), the full prompt the painter received
A suited figure stands at a podium in a grand hall with a cityscape view, while a smaller group of people in business attire sit in the background, their faces intent on the speaker. Soft natural light pours in from the window, illuminating the scene with a sense of gravity and importance. The color palette is muted, with earthy tones and shades of gray dominating the space. Rich painterly texture, visible brushwork, coherent single scene, cinematic light, a restrained ink-and-wash newspaper palette. Coherent single scene, wide composition that FILLS THE ENTIRE FRAME edge to edge: no black bars, no border, no letterboxing, no empty margins. Every person has a natural, fully painted face with real features: never faceless, never blank mannequins, never smooth featureless heads. All people are fictional and resemble no real public figure. Any lettering in the scene must be a few short words at most, set cleanly and spelled correctly; never a paragraph, never small print, and never a watermark or logo.
The picture's own pin (SHA-256 of the exact bytes served)
aa07c42fc7c815526bc30f8260f09f8d0027b5f764ad42155ffb0cf2f473c41a
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Content hash (SHA-256)
7297759e3ac7062ff332449b1f338848d1a1564ffcc3a4208e141d559bbacedcHash basisheadline + dek + prose + the canonical citations JSON, exactly as filed
Receipt signature (Ed25519)
ofNObx1XbPjXZvnwSBQz5xFA8wVlxZwYnXQYUjIK0lG0nvlLruMmoCVDEbK50EF1p8cbORhvkC5tYd14a4tXBQSigning key
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