Colombian Congress will study a bill proposing that scandal-ridden security and intelligence agency DAS be liquidated and replaced with a new body.
Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras announced Tuesday that the bill to split his ministry into two separate departments – the Interior Ministry and the Justice Ministry – will include plans for a new Colombian intelligence agency.
During his election campaign Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos expressed his intention to liquidate the DAS, which has been plagued by scandal.
As well as facing claims that it has been infiltrated by criminal gangs, the security service is the center of accusations that it carried out illegal surveillance of judges, politicians, and journalists. Former aides of ex-President Alvaro Uribe have been called to testify over the scandal and there are allegations that the former Colombian leader may have been involved in ordering the wiretapping.
The wiretap scandal prompted DAS director Felipe Muñoz to recommend that his own organization be dissolved.