By Juan David Cano, CAMBIOColombia, November 8, 2024
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
Ambassador Daniel García Peña furnished details of the statements made by Daniel Erikson, a White House official who revealed that the purchase of Pegasus was made with United States funds.
Colombia’s Ambassador to the United States, Daniel García Peña, confirmed that payment for the Pegasus spying software was made in cash, and he assured that former President Iván Duque was not informed of the purchase.
“That’s what they told us, effectively, that President Duque did not know about the operation. I’m just transmitting what they told us here in Washington, and here they’re saying that effectively, President Duque was not informed,” García told the media.
The Ambassador also explained to WRadio that Daniel Erikson, a White House official responsible for matters involve the relationship between the United States and Colombia, confirmed that the acquisition of the software was part of a joint effort to combat drug trafficking in the region.
“The funds used to acquire the Pegasus software were United States funds and the dates coincide with the dates reported in the media. It was to be used in the war on drug trafficking,” stated the Ambassador about the November 7 revelation to the EL TIEMPO newspaper.
The purchase, which cost more than USD $11,000,000, was made in cash, which has generated some doubts in Colombia. According to García, this method of payment was justified, presumably, to keep the funds from being traced, which some consider “suspicious” and “irregular”.
“A transaction of that quantity of millions of dollars, which was even made in cash, is somewhat unusual. Although they say they have done the same thing in other cases, making payments like this in cash looks absolutely suspicious and doubtful to me. However, they confirmed to me that that’s the way it was, and that it was not the first time that something like this was done by the North American authorities,” he said.
Even though the White House has insisted that there was nothing irregular about the procedure, the Ambassador did point out that the operation continues to be the source of some concerns.
What has happened with Pegasus in Colombia
The Pegasus scandal in Colombia started last September 4, when President Petro complained that the Iván Duque administration had obtained the spying software, supposedly through the Intelligence Office of the National Police (Dipol in Spanish) in 2021.
The Attorney General promised to investigate the case, and in October she reported that there had been a payment of USD $5,500,000, in cash to avoid leaving any tracks, and that that coincided with the dates the President had cited in his statement. Nevertheless, the Inspector General and the Defense Minister were not able to confirm the existence of any register or account of such an expenditure.
The case escalated on November 7, when a report in EL TIEMPO suggested that the United States had financed the purchase without Duque knowing anything about it. That information was confirmed today by Ambassador García.