Colombia: Over 350 Corrupt Military Personnel Exposed in Undercover Operation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Colombian political weekly magazine ‘Semana’ has exposed an intelligence investigation within the army called ‘Operation Command Staff,’ which has been tracking corrupt military personnel since 2017. The findings: 16 generals, 218 officers, and 122 non-commissioned officers who have embezzled army funds or sold intelligence and logistics to paramilitary drug organizations.

The fight against corruption in the military was one of NATO’s prerequisites for Colombia’s accession to the organization in 2018.

However, the secret operation was discontinued in 2019 after President Iván Duque replaced the military leadership. Under the new army commander, Nicacio Martínez, the secret military service launched a full-scale campaign against the informants and supporters of ‘Operation Command Staff,’ among others.

The operation uncovered a network with a general and twelve officers who supported the paramilitary drug organization “Golf-Clan” (Clan del Golfo) in the Valle, Cauca, and Nariño departments. A group of officers, also led by a general, sold weapons and firearms licenses to the criminal Medellín organization “Envigado office” (Oficina de Envigado). Evidence such as this ended up in the drawers of the prosecutor’s office with no criminal prosecution.

Another scandal in the media was the uncovering of illegal profiling of at least 130 people by military intelligence, which occurred between February and December 2019 and was made public by ‘Semana’ two weeks ago. The targets were Colombian and US journalists, human rights activists, and politicians, some of whom were also wiretapped.

In addition to the usual left-wing organizations and opposition members who have been monitored several times, the Colombian military spied on US journalists who had contacted whistleblowers of the armed forces or interviewed guerrilla leaders. Others were Latin American correspondents for newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, Time, and The New York Times.

The head of Human Rights Watch for Latin America, José Vivanco, was also monitored. Even Duque’s ex-government secretary, Jorge Mario Eastman, was under surveillance. The secret service believed him to be a media source on sensitive internal affairs.

This surveillance was conducted by an intelligence unit co-financed with US$400,000 a year by the CIA, the US foreign intelligence agency. A whistleblower from the group said that some military personnel submitted fake invoices to the CIA, took some of the funds for themselves, and spent the rest on software for these “special operations.”

The unit’s original target was believed to be “terrorist organizations and the drug trade.” The Americans were not pleased that their money was being used against journalists from major media outlets from their own country. “That’s trouble,” said the whistleblower.

US Senator Patrick Leahy urged that those involved should be prosecuted. General Eduardo Quiroz, head of military intelligence, was deposed, along with 11 other officers. Quiroz featured in earlier disclosures by ‘Semana.’ He is said to have pushed the persecution campaign against investigators of “Operation Command Staff” as well as whistleblowers who reported to the media on the recurring military practice of illegal executions. These included dismissals, transfers, and death threats, which became a scandal in recent months and led to General Martínez leaving the army in December.

However, the Foundation for the Free Press (FLIP) complained that the dismissal of the eleven officers was insufficient. The army has not yet answered essential questions, such as who ordered the profiling and for what purpose, which political and military authorities will deal with the collected intelligence and what the army will do to prevent this from happening again.

The media repeatedly say that “the army’s black sheep” are responsible for such scandals. Left-wing senator Iván Cepeda criticized the downplaying of the problem. The problem is, in fact, a matter of black sheep and will persist as long as there are no profound structural changes in the military. A member of the “Operation Command Staff” described the military as a “mafia structure.”

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