Opponents, including President Juan Manuel Santos’ campaign team, called on candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga to “immediately resign” from Colombia’s election race after a video appeared of the candidate receiving allegedly classified military intelligence information on ongoing peace talks with rebel group FARC.
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MORE: Zuluaga Directly Involved With Illegal Wiretapping, Caught On Video
Santos loyalists in attack
“I believe this candidacy is non-viable. May he proceed and renounce immediately while the Colombian authorities proceed immediately,” Alfonso Prado, the president’s debate manager, was quoted as saying by RCN Radio, one of Colombia’s most popular radio stations.
The campaign executive stressed the importance of an immediate criminal investigation, a week before pollsters expect Santos to receive staunch opposition from Zuluaga, a conservative candidate enforced by the controversial but popular former President Alvaro Uribe.
MORE: Zuluaga Continues To Skyrocket In New Poll
| “This is a matter of national security, of the personal safety of the president, of the security forces. It demonstrates a far-stretching manipulation of information for perverse personal purposes.” |
“This is a matter of national security, of the personal safety of the president, of the security forces. It demonstrates a far-stretching manipulation of information for perverse personal purposes, it’s a game-changer for the campaign at the moment,” said Prado eight days before the May 25 poll.
The alleged receiving of information of the United States Southern Command made the scandal even more important, the Santos campaign chief said.
“They were using interceptions from the Northern American government even” to filter information that could impede progress in the peace talks that led to a deal between the FARC, the country’s largest and oldest rebel group.
Colombian criminal code“Art. 119. – Espionage – He who unduly obtains, uses or reveals secret political, economical or military, related to the security of the State, will be punished with imprisonment of between three to 12 years.” |
The campaign chief said that, repeating Zuluaga’s own words, that those involved should go to prison.
Liberal Party leader Simon Gaviria also urged the Democratic Center candidate to resig after calluing him a “cynic and a liar,” according to French press agency AFP.
U Party Senator Armando Benedetti, also a Santos loyalist, went as far as claiming Zuluaga leaded the “gang” that was allegedly wiretapping the peace talks and obtaining other classified information from military sources.
More scandals than proposals
The Zuluaga scandal broke one day after media revealed that Santos’ political strategist had been accused of receiving $12 million in drug money to facilitate a possible accord over the surrender of the country’s top drug lords and the dismantling of their drug routes.
MORE: Political uproar over 2011 Govt. negotiations with drug traffickers
Zuluaga has previously claimed Santos is using the ongoing revelations to divert attention for his campaign’s alleged drug donation.
Peñalosa: Zuluaga scandal is ‘more serious than 8000 process’
However, Enrique Peñalosa, a centrist candidate in the rear of the race, called Zuluaga’s scandal “more serious than the 8000 process” in which was proven that money from the Norte del Valle cartel had been used to finance the successful 1994 campaign of then-Liberal Party candidate Luis Ernesto Samper.
“He lied to the country, in the most serious way, because more than anything he was covering up criminal activity,” Peñalosa said in a statement published on Twitter.
The presidential hopeful said the video provided evidence Zuluaga could be guilty of “conspiracy to commit a crime.”
Uribe and Zuluaga quiet about revelations, allies claim set-up
Zuluaga and his political patron, Uribe, remained quiet in the hours after the video was revealed and political opponents lined up to condemn the conservative candidate
Uribe did retweet a message by party executive and former Vice-President Francisco Santos, who said the video was part of a “conspiracy to infiltrate” the Zuluaga campaign for a “dirty war,” this time orchestrated by the Santos camp.
Con el video de Semana queda claro que hubo una conspiración para infiltrar la campaña de Zuluaga en una operación de guerra sucia política.
— Pacho Santos (@PachoSantosC) May 18, 2014
The former President’s party, the Democratic Center, retweeted a message from Senator Luis Carlos Velez saying it was “incredible that they have set up an entire spying operation against the decent and cirrect man Zuluaga is. Who did this?”
No saben el error que cometieron al ESPIAR a OIZuluaga, porque corre el riesgo… de ganar en PRIMERA vuelta.
— Juan Carlos Vélez U. (@jcvelezuribe) May 18, 2014
Nevertheless, the Senator proved optimistic about Zuluaga’s future, in spite of the apparent involvement in illegal activity. “They don’t know the mistake they’re making to SPY on OIZuluaga, because he runs the risk …. of winning in the first round.”
No saben el error que cometieron al ESPIAR a OIZuluaga, porque corre el riesgo… de ganar en PRIMERA vuelta.
— Juan Carlos Vélez U. (@jcvelezuribe) May 18, 2014
Other presidential hopefuls, like the Conservative Party candidate Marta Lucia Ramirez and the socialist Clara Lopez, made no public announcements on Saturday.
Colombia’s Prosecutor General, personally appointed by Santos, did not make immediate announcements about possible criminal proceedings against the presidential candidate.
Political powerhouses divided
The alleged criminal activity of Zuluaga has further increased tensions between Santos and Zuluaga and the political powerhouses supporting them.
Santos is supported by a patchwork coalition of the Liberal Party Party, the U Party, the Radical Change Party and parts of the Progressive, Green and Conservative parties that have rallied to support the president’s effort to bring a negotiated end to 50 years of conflict with the country’s largest rebel group, the FARC.
Zuluaga is supported by dissident members of the Conservative Party, close associates from within the regional Antioquia elite, vast parts of the military, and a broad network of civilian supporters. The most notable difference in opinion between Santos and Zuluaga is the latter’s resistance to continuing peace talks under the current conditions.
The scandals that have been plaguing the Santos and Zuluaga campaigns have effectively pushed other, less controversial candidates to the fringes of the election. In several recent polls, the scandals seemed to have consolidated the disgraced candidates’ chances to meet up in the second round.
MORE: Peñalosa losing ground as Santos and Zuluaga vie for 2nd round: Poll
Colombia is set to take to the polls on Sunday next week.
