Colombia-Prosecutor on Point
8-6-1995
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ Soft-spoken with green eyes that squint in seeming amusement, Alfonso Valdivieso doesn't look like someone who might trigger the downfall of a president.
But as Colombia's chief prosecutor, Valdivieso is leading a relentless investigation that is uncovering evidence that the Cali drug cartel helped President Ernesto Samper gain office last year.
The investigation has led in recent days to the arrest of Samper's campaign treasurer and the resignation of Defense Minister Fernando Botero over allegations that millions of dollars in drug money were funneled to the campaign. Samper has denied any knowledge that his campaign took drug money.
The arrest early Sunday of Cali cartel kingpin Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, after a months-long manhunt, will affect the probe. Rodriguez is believed to have evidence linking Samper's campaign to drug money, and could use it as a bargaining chip to obtain a lenient sentence.
However, when asked Sunday if he had given money to the campaign, Rodriguez shook his head and called Samper "an honest man."
Valdivieso, 45, knows well the risk of pushing hard against Colombia's powerful drug traffickers. A photograph of his slain cousin and confidant, Luis Carlos Galan, hangs on his office wall.
Galan, a leading candidate in the 1990 presidential election, was assassinated in 1989 by the Medellin cocaine cartel. He had waged a campaign against drug traffickers, including advocating the extradition of cartel leaders to the United States.
The 1991 constitution bars extradition of Colombian citizens. But Valdivieso, appointed last year with full autonomy, is forging ahead with the furthest-reaching investigation into drug corruption of politics and is pushing for stiff sentences for captured drug lords.
"Like Galan, the prosecutor general has a sense of duty to do what's right for the country, to take it to the ultimate consequences regardless of where the trail leads," said a Valdivieso aide, who requested anonymity.
The U.S. attorney general, Janet Reno, said Thursday that she was impressed by Valdivieso's effort to "root out the problems that exist in Colombia."
Valdivieso, who has a law degree from Bogota's Universidad Javeriana and a master's in economics from Boston University, begins his workday at 7 a.m. He doesn't return to his wife and two children until 9 or 10 p.m.
Every morning, heavily armed policemen outside the brick building housing the prosecutor general's offices grow tense. Agents move aside a metal barricade and ready their weapons. Soon, Valdivieso's bulletproof car, escorted by bodyguards in other cars and on motorcycles, zooms in.
The government has uncovered several plots by drug traffickers to kill Valdivieso. He has the maximum protection possible, the aide said.
"If an assassin wants to kill him, and doesn't care if he dies in the process, there's little we can do. So worrying about it is not going to help," said the aide.
In a recent interview, Valdivieso rejected a suggestion that U.S. officials, who have long suspected that Samper's election campaign accepted drug money, were pushing him to investigate.
"There is absolutely no pressure," he said.
But the United States did press the Samper administration earlier this year to get tough on the Cali cartel.
An anti-cartel offensive, assisted by U.S. agents, has netted the arrest or surrender of six cartel leaders, and a trove of damning documents. With Rodriguez's arrest, only one of the seven cartel leaders identified on wanted posters is still at large.
A $50,000 check from a Cali cartel front company, endorsed by Samper campaign treasurer Santiago Medina, was found and used by Valdivieso to order Medina's arrest July 26.
Medina testified that Botero _ who was Samper's campaign director _ told him to solicit donations from the Cali cartel. Medina said Samper approved the move.
The cartel donated $6.1 million to the campaign, Medina said.
Botero, who denied taking cartel money, quit the government Wednesday.
Valdivieso said the government was meddling in his investigation. On Tuesday, Botero and Interior Minister Horacio Serpa _ another Samper campaign adviser _ complained that Valdivieso's probe was tainting senior officials and that his office was leaking Medina's secret testimony to the press.
A copy of the testimony was stolen from offices of Valdivieso's subordinates last weekend. The opposition newspaper La Prensa said the secret police stole the testimony and delivered it to Samper and his ministers. Ramiro Bejarano, the secret police director, denied the accusation.
Valdivieso, who is expected to summon Botero for questioning, is sharing evidence with a congressional commission investigating Samper. If the commission finds sufficient proof of wrongdoing, it can recommend Samper's impeachment by the Senate.
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ Soft-spoken with green eyes that squint in seeming amusement, Alfonso Valdivieso doesn't look like someone who might trigger the downfall of a president.
But as Colombia's chief prosecutor, Valdivieso is leading a relentless investigation that is uncovering evidence that the Cali drug cartel helped President Ernesto Samper gain office last year.
The investigation has led in recent days to the arrest of Samper's campaign treasurer and the resignation of Defense Minister Fernando Botero over allegations that millions of dollars in drug money were funneled to the campaign. Samper has denied any knowledge that his campaign took drug money.
The arrest early Sunday of Cali cartel kingpin Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, after a months-long manhunt, will affect the probe. Rodriguez is believed to have evidence linking Samper's campaign to drug money, and could use it as a bargaining chip to obtain a lenient sentence.
However, when asked Sunday if he had given money to the campaign, Rodriguez shook his head and called Samper "an honest man."
Valdivieso, 45, knows well the risk of pushing hard against Colombia's powerful drug traffickers. A photograph of his slain cousin and confidant, Luis Carlos Galan, hangs on his office wall.
Galan, a leading candidate in the 1990 presidential election, was assassinated in 1989 by the Medellin cocaine cartel. He had waged a campaign against drug traffickers, including advocating the extradition of cartel leaders to the United States.
The 1991 constitution bars extradition of Colombian citizens. But Valdivieso, appointed last year with full autonomy, is forging ahead with the furthest-reaching investigation into drug corruption of politics and is pushing for stiff sentences for captured drug lords.
"Like Galan, the prosecutor general has a sense of duty to do what's right for the country, to take it to the ultimate consequences regardless of where the trail leads," said a Valdivieso aide, who requested anonymity.
The U.S. attorney general, Janet Reno, said Thursday that she was impressed by Valdivieso's effort to "root out the problems that exist in Colombia."
Valdivieso, who has a law degree from Bogota's Universidad Javeriana and a master's in economics from Boston University, begins his workday at 7 a.m. He doesn't return to his wife and two children until 9 or 10 p.m.
Every morning, heavily armed policemen outside the brick building housing the prosecutor general's offices grow tense. Agents move aside a metal barricade and ready their weapons. Soon, Valdivieso's bulletproof car, escorted by bodyguards in other cars and on motorcycles, zooms in.
The government has uncovered several plots by drug traffickers to kill Valdivieso. He has the maximum protection possible, the aide said.
"If an assassin wants to kill him, and doesn't care if he dies in the process, there's little we can do. So worrying about it is not going to help," said the aide.
In a recent interview, Valdivieso rejected a suggestion that U.S. officials, who have long suspected that Samper's election campaign accepted drug money, were pushing him to investigate.
"There is absolutely no pressure," he said.
But the United States did press the Samper administration earlier this year to get tough on the Cali cartel.
An anti-cartel offensive, assisted by U.S. agents, has netted the arrest or surrender of six cartel leaders, and a trove of damning documents. With Rodriguez's arrest, only one of the seven cartel leaders identified on wanted posters is still at large.
A $50,000 check from a Cali cartel front company, endorsed by Samper campaign treasurer Santiago Medina, was found and used by Valdivieso to order Medina's arrest July 26.
Medina testified that Botero _ who was Samper's campaign director _ told him to solicit donations from the Cali cartel. Medina said Samper approved the move.
The cartel donated $6.1 million to the campaign, Medina said.
Botero, who denied taking cartel money, quit the government Wednesday.
Valdivieso said the government was meddling in his investigation. On Tuesday, Botero and Interior Minister Horacio Serpa _ another Samper campaign adviser _ complained that Valdivieso's probe was tainting senior officials and that his office was leaking Medina's secret testimony to the press.
A copy of the testimony was stolen from offices of Valdivieso's subordinates last weekend. The opposition newspaper La Prensa said the secret police stole the testimony and delivered it to Samper and his ministers. Ramiro Bejarano, the secret police director, denied the accusation.
Valdivieso, who is expected to summon Botero for questioning, is sharing evidence with a congressional commission investigating Samper. If the commission finds sufficient proof of wrongdoing, it can recommend Samper's impeachment by the Senate.
Comments
Post a Comment