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Two weeks after the arrival of the new government of Iván Duque, a political scandal shakes Colombia at that time. Former President Álvaro Uribe, who resigned from his Senate seat this week in the middle of a corruption investigation, on Wednesday accused incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos and the British secret services of having orchestrated a conspiracy against him.
He swore as a senator last Friday after obtaining the highest vote in the March legislature
. However, justice was holding him in the crosshairs following a case dating back to 2012 when the left-wing senator, Iván Cepeda, denounced him for having links with paramilitary groups. Since then, the Supreme Court has been investigating whether Uribe and MP Alvaro Hernán Prada manipulated witnesses to disbadociate themselves from paramilitary groups.
Uribe, who launched a military offensive against leftist guerrillas between 2002 and 2010, is a mentor of the president-elect. Iván Duque, Democratic Center Party
"There are repeated rumors that the recordings were made by the British agency MI6, friends of Juan Manuel Santos, foreign authorities in a ploy against me", writes yesterday Uribe on his Twitter account.
In another message, Uribe questions the appeal to the questions posed by the Supreme Court and says that it involves an implicit "security measure" (prison).
The Supreme Court admitted Tuesday evidence in the case of the recordings of appeals intercepted by Colombian intelligence services, at least one of them between Uribe and a friend or, in which the former president ensures that they are registered and that they have been followed in a political event. The recording of the call was revealed by local media in February and Uribe did not deny its authenticity at the time.
This is the first time in the history of Colombia that the Court calls to declare an ex-president. Uribe and his allies have denounced the lack of independence of the Court.
There was no immediate reaction from the Santos government, which will leave the presidency on August 7 in the hands of Duke. "We express our solidarity with former President Uribe and his family at this time and we are sure that their honor and innocence will prevail," said Duque, accompanied by Vice President Marta Ramirez. In addition, the elected president expressed his respect for "the constitution and its institutions" and asked that the presumption of innocence of his political mentor be guaranteed.
With the resignation of Uribe, who is still a very popular politician in Colombia, the Centro Democrático loses its leading leader in Congress, where Duque seeks to promote economic and social reforms and changes in the country. peace agreement with FARC guerrillas.
Although the party of Uribe, 66, will not lose the banks in the Senate, the absence of the former president could weaken their cohesion. The group has 51 of the 280 seats in Congress and needs alliances to strengthen its agenda.
"Uribe was considered an untouchable man, almighty, until yesterday," said Senator Cepeda, who denounced Uribe brought to justice for his alleged links to paramilitary
Uribe and some of his relatives have been singled out by their opponents for alleged links with these groups, accused of human rights violations, but the ongoing investigation The court is the only one that has advanced on the issue [19659014] Throughout his career, Uribe has defended accusations that linked him to paramilitary groups, partly motivated by the hard line he was applying against leftist guerrillas.
Under his reign, about 30,000 paramilitaries were demobilized after a series of human rights abuses, and several of his commanders were extradited to the United States for drug trafficking. raphic
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