.Spying and corruption in Colombia

[Judi Lynn]

.Spying and corruption in Colombia
The dark side
The former president and his aides are called to account for dirty tricks
Nov 4th 2010 | bogotÁ

DURING Colombia’s presidential campaign this year Antanas Mockus of the Green Party did surprisingly well by accusing the incumbent, Álvaro Uribe, of skirting the law in his efforts to make the country safer. Mr Mockus lost to Juan Manuel Santos, Mr Uribe’s candidate. But even though Mr Uribe left office three months ago, judicial probes into spying, bribery and corruption scandals have kept the country focused on the less savoury habits of his highly popular government.

The most explosive charges almost reach Mr Uribe himself. In 2009 Semana, a news magazine, reported that das, Colombia’s domestic intelligence agency, was illegally wiretapping and monitoring judges, journalists, politicians and human-rights activists deemed to be opponents of Mr Uribe, and had designed smear campaigns against them. The story prompted criminal investigations in which several former das officials testified that the intelligence was destined for the president’s top advisers. Mr Uribe has said he “never ordered, insinuated or considered an illegal option”. Now, however, he will have to repeat that denial under oath: Congress’s investigative committee began hearings on the topic on November 3rd. Mr Uribe asked for the normally closed-door proceedings to be made public, but the committee has kept them sealed.

Some of Mr Uribe’s closest aides have also been hauled into court. Jorge Noguera, his first director of das, is on trial for collaborating with paramilitary warlords, and has been accused of a part in the murder of three union activists. Two of his successors also face probes. Sabas Pretelt, a former interior minister, is charged with bribing a congressman to vote to let Mr Uribe run for re-election in 2006.

Many more of his officials have faced administrative penalties. Bernardo Moreno, Mr Uribe’s chief of staff, has been banned from holding public office for 18 years for “exceeding his authority” by inquiring about intelligence on Supreme Court justices. And just as Andrés Felipe Arias, a former agriculture minister, was heading to Italy last month as Colombia’s new ambassador, the government’s auditor accused him of diverting subsidies meant for small farmers to rich families. In return, the recipients reportedly gave money to Mr Arias’s bid for the Conservative Party’s presidential nomination.

More:
http://www.economist.com/node/17421355?story_id=17421355&fsrc=rss