Colombia-Cali Cartel
9-23-1995
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ U.S. officials reportedly possess evidence about Cali drug cartel corruption of Colombian politics that could bring down the government of President Ernesto Samper.
The evidence is contained in a trove of statements and documents provided by Cali cartel financial wizard Guillermo Pallomari, who surrendered to U.S. drug agents in Washington weeks ago.
Pallomari's surrender wasn't reported until Tuesday, and only now is the extent of the information he turned over emerging.
Colombian authorities, investigating the Samper administration for allegedly using millions of dollars of Cali cartel money to win the presidency last year, are eager to get their hands on the information.
Prosecutor General Alfonso Valdivieso, who has spearheaded the corruption probe, is expected to seek U.S. cooperation when he visits Washington early this week on a previously scheduled trip.
Computer discs, documents, folders and even a photo album turned over by Pallomari to U.S. investigators are "a bomb" of evidence which, if shared with Valdivieso, could bring down the already tottering Samper government, a highly placed source told The Associated Press. The source spoke on condition that he not be identified further, given the sensitivity of the issue.
Three senior Samper campaign officials, including the president's former defense minister, are already imprisoned on charges they used Cali cartel money to win the election.
On Saturday, the Spanish newspaper El Pais quoted Vice President Humberto de la Calle as saying that "proof and evidence clearly show money from drug traffickers was present in the campaign."
But de la Calle, who is serving as ambassador to Spain, issued a communique Saturday saying he had been misquoted, and denied he ever said he was convinced drug money entered the campaign.
El Pais also quoted de la Calle as saying in the interview that he had no knowledge during the campaign that drug traffickers were financing it.
Samper has refused to resign. A congressional commission is investigating him at his request.
With the probe widely expected to be a whitewash, Colombia's Constitutional Court is deciding whether the commission or Valdivieso has authority to investigate Samper. A ruling is expected within two weeks.
Although the highly placed source did not say whether Pallomari's evidence directly implicated the president, it could be enough to show his administration is riddled with corruption and push him over the edge.
Material handed over by Pallomari indicates that Attorney General Orlando Vasquez Velasquez, whom Valdivieso's office suspects of links to drug traffickers, was on the Cali cartel's payroll, said the source.
Vasquez, who has repeatedly denied other allegations he was linked to the cartel, was unavailable for comment Saturday.
Pallomari was not only the accountant for the Cali cartel's drug trafficking enterprises and its legal businesses, but was involved in payoffs to police and politicians, the source said, making Pallomari extremely dangerous to the traffickers and their political allies.
He reportedly fled to the United States because he feared the cartel had ordered him killed after police found checks in his office written out to Samper's election campaign treasurer.
A senior Clinton administration official told the Washington Post last week that Pallomari "may turn out to be the biggest witness of international drug trafficking that we've ever had."
Because Pallomari would be a prime target for assassination if returned to Colombia, Valdivieso's office is in no rush to seek his extradition to Colombia, where he is charged with being a front for a criminal enterprise.
Valdivieso's office plans to ask U.S. authorities to share information it obtained from Pallomari and then question him under oath in the United States, an official in the prosecutor general's office said.
Valdivieso's office is confident the United States will cooperate, even though the U.S. Justice Department halted sharing evidence on new drug cases with Colombia last year because the few people convicted were given lenient sentences and witnesses named in secret testimony were being killed.
The U.S. Justice Department refused to comment last week on whether it would cooperate, leaving many Colombians wondering what the next chapter in Colombia's highest-reaching political crisis in recent times will bring.
"Samper's fate depends a great deal on Uncle Sam," noted the Bogota newspaper La Prensa.
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ U.S. officials reportedly possess evidence about Cali drug cartel corruption of Colombian politics that could bring down the government of President Ernesto Samper.
The evidence is contained in a trove of statements and documents provided by Cali cartel financial wizard Guillermo Pallomari, who surrendered to U.S. drug agents in Washington weeks ago.
Pallomari's surrender wasn't reported until Tuesday, and only now is the extent of the information he turned over emerging.
Colombian authorities, investigating the Samper administration for allegedly using millions of dollars of Cali cartel money to win the presidency last year, are eager to get their hands on the information.
Prosecutor General Alfonso Valdivieso, who has spearheaded the corruption probe, is expected to seek U.S. cooperation when he visits Washington early this week on a previously scheduled trip.
Computer discs, documents, folders and even a photo album turned over by Pallomari to U.S. investigators are "a bomb" of evidence which, if shared with Valdivieso, could bring down the already tottering Samper government, a highly placed source told The Associated Press. The source spoke on condition that he not be identified further, given the sensitivity of the issue.
Three senior Samper campaign officials, including the president's former defense minister, are already imprisoned on charges they used Cali cartel money to win the election.
On Saturday, the Spanish newspaper El Pais quoted Vice President Humberto de la Calle as saying that "proof and evidence clearly show money from drug traffickers was present in the campaign."
But de la Calle, who is serving as ambassador to Spain, issued a communique Saturday saying he had been misquoted, and denied he ever said he was convinced drug money entered the campaign.
El Pais also quoted de la Calle as saying in the interview that he had no knowledge during the campaign that drug traffickers were financing it.
Samper has refused to resign. A congressional commission is investigating him at his request.
With the probe widely expected to be a whitewash, Colombia's Constitutional Court is deciding whether the commission or Valdivieso has authority to investigate Samper. A ruling is expected within two weeks.
Although the highly placed source did not say whether Pallomari's evidence directly implicated the president, it could be enough to show his administration is riddled with corruption and push him over the edge.
Material handed over by Pallomari indicates that Attorney General Orlando Vasquez Velasquez, whom Valdivieso's office suspects of links to drug traffickers, was on the Cali cartel's payroll, said the source.
Vasquez, who has repeatedly denied other allegations he was linked to the cartel, was unavailable for comment Saturday.
Pallomari was not only the accountant for the Cali cartel's drug trafficking enterprises and its legal businesses, but was involved in payoffs to police and politicians, the source said, making Pallomari extremely dangerous to the traffickers and their political allies.
He reportedly fled to the United States because he feared the cartel had ordered him killed after police found checks in his office written out to Samper's election campaign treasurer.
A senior Clinton administration official told the Washington Post last week that Pallomari "may turn out to be the biggest witness of international drug trafficking that we've ever had."
Because Pallomari would be a prime target for assassination if returned to Colombia, Valdivieso's office is in no rush to seek his extradition to Colombia, where he is charged with being a front for a criminal enterprise.
Valdivieso's office plans to ask U.S. authorities to share information it obtained from Pallomari and then question him under oath in the United States, an official in the prosecutor general's office said.
Valdivieso's office is confident the United States will cooperate, even though the U.S. Justice Department halted sharing evidence on new drug cases with Colombia last year because the few people convicted were given lenient sentences and witnesses named in secret testimony were being killed.
The U.S. Justice Department refused to comment last week on whether it would cooperate, leaving many Colombians wondering what the next chapter in Colombia's highest-reaching political crisis in recent times will bring.
"Samper's fate depends a great deal on Uncle Sam," noted the Bogota newspaper La Prensa.
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