Two Top Uribe Aides Face Questioning in Colombia Spy Scandal

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Latin America Herald Tribune

Caracas,
Thursday
October 21,2010
Two Top Uribe Aides Face Questioning in Colombia Spy Scandal

BOGOTA – Two top advisers in former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s 2002-2010 administration have been called to testify about their alleged role in the illegal wiretapping of judges, politicians and human rights defenders.

The Attorney General’s Office summoned the former director of the DAS security agency, Andres Peñate, and Colombia’s current ambassador to the Vatican, erstwhile Uribe press secretary Cesar Mauricio Velasquez.

Peñate, who headed the spy agency between November 2005 and August 2007, has been accused by former DAS deputy chief of operations Martha Leal of instructing her – on orders from Uribe – to eavesdrop on opposition Sen. Piedad Cordoba during a 2007 visit to Mexico.

Leal is part of a group of nearly 20 current or former DAS officials arrested and prosecuted for their role in the illegal wiretapping and monitoring of Supreme Court justices, opposition politicians, human rights advocates and prominent journalists.


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