Ap and Prensa Latina
La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, November 9, 2024, p. 20
Bogota. The US government confirmed that it was directly involved in the purchase of Israeli spy software Pegasus in Colombia, as part of the cooperation in the fight against drugs during the administration of President Joe Biden, corroborating the information that had been revealed this week by the newspaper The Time.
Senior officials who asked to remain anonymous stated during a first-level meeting, in which the Colombian ambassador to the United States, Daniel García-Peña, was present, that Washington committed to providing funds for the acquisition of Pegasus, supposedly behind the former’s back. President Iván Duque, without specifying the amount that was allocated, in an operation that involved a small group of officials from the South American country.
Although Washington assured that the software was not used to monitor Colombian politicians, García-Peña warned that there are many questions and demanded access to all the information that was collected during the entire time it was used in the country.
Since September, the Colombian government has been investigating the purchase of this espionage mechanism, after President Gustavo Petro denounced that it was used against him, his close collaborators and other opponents. In March 2023, Joe Biden issued an executive order banning the use of commercial spyware, such as Pegasus, by the US government that poses national security risks.
Petro assured that the purchase of the software was recorded in bank transactions, according to a classified document that he read, but did not release to the press, and that it would have been a response from Israel’s financial investigations unit to a request for information from his counterpart. Colombian in August 2024.
According to him, the letter warned that it was sensitive content that could not be disseminated without prior consent from Israel’s anti-money laundering authority; However, he justified the disclosure of the confidential information by the breaking of diplomatic relations with Israel since May, considering that that country is committing a genocide in Gaza.
García-Peña reported that the officials he met with at the White House confirmed that the money was paid to the NSO Group firm in cash, as Petro had denounced. They confirmed to me that this was the case, and that it is not the only or the first time that this has happened by the US authorities to avoid the traceability of resources. If this were so legitimate and if everything was aimed at the fight against drug trafficking, whether cash payments would have to be made in this way remains highly doubtful..
US officials did not give details of where exactly these resources came from, but stressed that in 2022 their use was completely restricted in Colombia, before Petro assumed the presidency, and after journalistic investigations showed that it was used to spy and violate rights. humans.