Surrender in Colombia spy scandal

Last Thursday, arrest warrants were issued for 10 former officials of Colombia’s domestic intelligence agency DAS. The 10 are suspected of having spied illegally on people – including judges, journalists and human rights workers – opposing the re-election of President Alvaro Uribe.

Eight of the 10 surrendered themselves to facing the criminal charges the next day, but one ex-intelligence worker who has yet to be taken into custody is the former DAS Deputy Director Jose Miguel Narvaez, who is also being investigated for killings carried out by extremist right-wing death squads.

The 10 former officials have been accused of using their professional positions to carry out illegal activity in the name of national security, when really they were serving selfish interests and infringing on the security of law-abiding citizens. Conviction of criminal conspiracy could get them each 6 years in the slammer…President Uribe and his closest officials of course deny any and all involvement in the alleged espionage, of which there is significant evidence.

There are conflicting opinions on how much Uribe could have known about the extent of the spying. Some say he’s too high up to have known all the details, while others maintain that Uribe is just the sort of President who keeps on top of all the minutia – a real micromanager. They insist it’s not the type of operation to be managed by mid-level officials.

The DAS employees reporting to those officials for whom arrest warrants have been issued were responsible for compiling massive amounts of personal information on target opponents. The files of those spied upon include family snapshots, banking information and personal details like favorite drinks and whether they were cheating on their wives. Sounds like blackmail in the making.

The comprehensive files and the coming forward of some of the DAS employees carrying out the shady grunt work led to the arrest warrants. Although the spy scandal originally came to light in February of this year, the spying had been going on for approximately five years.

pic: AP